WALES

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002.

Peter Hain: The National Assembly for Wales's in-house staff provide accountancy services to the Wales Office. A notional charge is made for the services. In the financial year 2001–02, the amounts were £26,266 for financial services and £7,897 for the internal audit service.

Departmental Phone Directory

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the most recent internal phone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office internal phone directory is maintained electronically and revised when a member of staff arrives or leaves.
	It is an internal document, but key numbers are available publicly through publications such as the Civil Service Year Book or Vacher's Parliamentary Companion.

External Consultants

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total cost to his Department was of the use of external consultants in 2002.

Peter Hain: In the 2002 calendar year my Department spent some £38,000 on external consultants. It also made use of property management consultants under a contract held by the National Assembly for Wales.

External Consultants

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body spent on external consultancy in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (planned); and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Wales Office was established on 1 July 1999. Spending on external consultancy since then has been:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1999–2000(1) 0 
			 2000–01 16,300 
			 2001–02 31,100 
			 2002–03 10,800 
		
	
	(1) Period covered is 1 July 1999 to 31 March 2000
	It also made use of property management consultants under a contract held by the National Assembly for Wales.
	(b) My Department has no agencies or non-departmental public bodies.

Parish Councils

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many parish councillors have stood aside following the introduction of the Parish Council Code of Conduct.

Peter Hain: There are no Parish Councils in Wales. Community Councils are a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Staff

David Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people work in the Delivery Unit; what its purpose is; what its estimated cost is for (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: With the Treasury, the Delivery Unit aims to improve public services by working with Departments to help them meet their PSA targets, consistently with fiscal rules.
	At 3 February 2003, the Delivery Unit had 34 full-time equivalent staff. Its estimated expenditure for 2002–03 is £3.3 million. The budget for 2003–04 has yet to be agreed.

Departmental Staff

David Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) cost and (b) staffing were of the (i) Corporate Communication Team, (ii) Strategic Communication and Planning Team, (iii) Corporate Services Group, (iv) Government Information and Communication Service and (v) Media Monitoring Unit in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Corporate Communication team and Strategic Communication and Planning team are part of the Communication Group within the Cabinet Office. As at 3 February 2003, there were 16 staff working in the Corporate Communication team and four working in the Strategic Communication and Planning team. These figures are rounded to full time equivalents. For the Corporate Communication team the 2002–03 estimated expenditure is £0.6 million. The Strategic Communication and Planning team does not have its own budget and its costs cannot be easily identified from other parts of Communication Group.
	As at 3 February 2003, there were 291 staff working in Corporate Services Group. The estimated expenditure for 2002–03 is £8 million. There are 23 staff, rounded to full time equivalents, working in the Government Information and Communication Service (excluding the Media and Monitoring Unit), with estimated expenditure costs of £4.1 million. This £4.1 million includes two budgets for this year only—the Golden Jubilee with a forecast expenditure of £1.4 million and the Coalition Information Centre budget of £0.3 million, which was transferred to purchase IT equipment. The Media Monitoring Unit is part of the Government Information and Communication Service and there are 14 staff working in that unit. The Media Monitoring Unit is funded by subscriptions to recover its costs.

Departmental Staff

David Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people work in (a) the Regulatory Impact Unit, (b) the Office of Public Services Reform and (c) the Charter Mark and Beacon Unit; what the cost of each was in (i) 2001–02, (ii) 2002–03 and (iii) 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: There are 62 staff working within the Regulatory Impact Unit. The cost to run this unit during 2001–02 was £2.5 million and for 2002–03 the estimated expenditure is £2.9 million.
	The Office of Public Services Reform and the Charter Mark and Beacon Unit merged on 1 September 2002. The following figures reflect the units before the merger.
	There are 28 staff working in the Office of Public Services Reform. The cost to run this unit during 2001–02 was £1.9 million and for 2002–03 the estimated expenditure is £2.8 million.
	There are 15 people working in the Charter Mark and Beacon Unit. Costs for 2001–02 totalled £3.1 million. For 2002–03 the estimated expenditure is £2.3 million.
	All staffing figures are as at 3 February 2003 and rounded to full time equivalents. Budgets for 2003–04 have yet to be set.

TRANSPORT

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002.

David Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Administration Costs

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the central departmental administration costs of his Department in each year from 1990–91 to 2005–06 (planned); and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Information on central administration costs between 1990–91 and 2003–04 is set out in the relevant running/administration costs tables of the annual departmental reports for the Department of Transport, the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, and the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, although not on a comparable basis across the entire period. Updated information for the Department for Transport, with plans to 2005–06, will be published in the 2003 departmental report in the spring.

Advertising (Scotland)

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Department spent on advertising in Scotland in each year since 1999 on (a) television, (b) newspapers, (c) radio, (d) magazines, (e) billboards and (f) sporting events.

David Jamieson: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Blue Badge Scheme

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to amend regulations extending the issue of the Blue Badge to include children under the age of two where medical needs are paramount.

David Jamieson: Following a review of the Blue Badge Scheme, I announced in the House on 18 December 2002 that the Government would be taking forward a number of recommendations, including one to extend the eligibility criteria to children under the age of two whose medical needs require the transport of bulky medical equipment.
	This change, along with some of the other recommendations, will require amendment to the Scheme through secondary legislation. I will be taking steps to implement this and other recommendations at the earliest opportunity.

Climate Change

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the reports on climate change published by (a) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and (b) the UK Climate Impacts Programme on the transport sector;
	(2)  what studies his Department has carried out into the effect of climate change on railway infrastructure;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on the likely impact of future climate change upon the transport sector;
	(4)  if he will place copies of reports published from research funded by his Department on the effects of climate change on (a) railways, (b) roads, (c) aviation and (d) other transport in the Library.

David Jamieson: I welcome the report and joint research initiative, "Building Knowledge for a Changing Climate", launched this month by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Climate Impacts Programme, and the active role of the Highways Agency in supporting the initiative. I shall be interested in the results.
	My Department will be undertaking work this year, involving stakeholders, to advance our understanding of the potential implications of climate change for transport policy and operations. A report on this work and the results of any research in this area commissioned by the Department will be published.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the (a) gross and (b) net costs of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for each year from 1990–91 to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The information requested is available from 1991–92 and is as follows:
	
		Published Business Accounts -- £000
		
			  1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 
		
		
			  
			  
			 (a) Gross costs 187,010 190,402 187,129 186,140 190,439 203,856 
			 (b) Costs net of income 101,969 108,078 102,302 101,026 99,676 100,672 
		
	
	
		£000
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			  
			  
			 (a) Gross costs 195,733 212,226 231,012 249,192 292,473 
			 (b) Costs net of income 85,057 (715) 13,760 5,470 10,388 
		
	
	
		Allocated Funds Provisional -- £000
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 (a) Gross costs 368,795 285,952 284,742 284,507 
			 (b) Cost net of income 109,831 88,150 87,250 87,250 
		
	
	The figures reflect provisional funds allocated to DVLA for 2002–03 to 2005–06 from the Department of Transport's spending review settlements and other agreed changes. Income includes revenue from sale of registration marks and other income paid over to the Exchequer as Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts but excludes Vehicle Excise Duty collected by DVLA.
	DVLA's annual report shows unit cost efficiency gains in core activities averaging 3.4 per cent. a year. Transaction volumes have grown by an average of some 3 per cent. a year. From 1998 the Agency's core operations were extended by a number of major policy changes and business delivery improvements like photocard driving licences and graduated vehicle excise duty, which resulted in significant cost increases.
	In addition, 1998–99 saw the introduction of a fee for vehicle first registrations and an increase in demand for personalised registration marks.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what reasons underlie the increase in staffing of the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency between 1998–99 and 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The number of staff employed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency at the end of 2002–03 is forecast to be 5,835 full time equivalent posts, which is 1,427 higher than at the end of 1998–99. The main reasons for the increase are:
	(a) major new initiatives such as the Statutory Off-Road Notification scheme for unlicensed vehicles, photocard driving licences and Graduated Vehicle Excise Duty (577 posts);
	(b) other projects such as the implementation of the mandatory vehicle registration document scheme and to support London congestion charging; to safeguard delivery of the core business such as improving the accuracy of the database and the new strategic partnership to support DVLA's substantial change programme of service delivery improvements (550 posts);
	(c) increased workload involving initiatives to improve customer service delivery such as the introduction of extended hours in the Agency's call centre and growth in business volumes (23 per cent. higher than in 1998–99). The full impact on staffing levels from workload growth has been offset by more efficient working practices and the increase in electronic business (300 posts).

London Underground

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects service to be restored on the Central Line of London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 7 March 2003
	London Underground (LU) are currently implementing a programme of work to modify all trains in the Central Line fleet. LU is working with the independent Health and Safety Executive to implement a robust and safe solution. Services will be phased back in as soon as possible, starting with a shuttle service on the eastern end of the line. This will be followed by a limited service on the western end of the line. Finally, when LU has modified enough trains, a full service will resume.

London Underground

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the (a) track, (b) signalling and (c) rolling stock failures which have occurred on each of the London Underground lines in each of the last six years.

David Jamieson: These are operational matters for London Underground who have provided the information set out in the tables relating to delays of at least two minutes resulting from problems with the relevant type of asset.
	The number of delays is primarily a consequence of problems with ageing and life-expired assets following decades of under investment in the underground. This emphasises the urgent need for the major investment and maintenance, some £16 billion over the next 15 years, which our tube modernisation plans will deliver.
	
		(a) London Underground—Number of delays (of at least two minutes) by line caused by track problems in each of the last six years
		
			 Line 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Bakerloo 193 201 176 168 171 210 
			 Central 203 92 65 50 62 133 
			 District 74 51 69 83 179 190 
			 East London — — — — 10 26 
			 Jubilee 45 38 77 146 126 103 
			 Circle and Hammersmith & City 75 61 57 62 98 166 
			 Metropolitan 105 73 83 82 136 136 
			 Northern 141 165 109 105 208 143 
			 Piccadilly 92 110 109 135 165 144 
			 Victoria 54 80 66 66 56 56 
			 Waterloo & City — — — — 5 5 
		
	
	Note
	1. East London included with Jubilee to 1999–2000
	2. Waterloo & City included with Central to 1999–2000
	
		(b) London Underground—Number of delays (of at least two minutes) by line caused by signalling problems in each of the last six years
		
			 Line 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Bakerloo Central 264 292 249 355 248 357 
			 Central 644 880 308 335 490 582 
			 District 303 269 278 394 525 632 
			 East London — — — — 46 68 
			 Jubilee 79 110 197 338 398 415 
			 Circle and Hammersmith & City 129 131 125 238 407 396 
			 Metropolitan 209 266 194 290 522 613 
			 Northern 298 323 216 317 358 388 
			 Piccadilly 261 241 213 202 326 289 
			 Victoria 115 166 149 131 186 314 
			 Waterloo & City — — — — 16 27 
		
	
	Note:
	1. East London included with Jubilee to 1999–2000.
	2. Waterloo & City included with Central to 1999–2000.
	
		(c) London Underground—Number of delays (of at least two minutes) by line caused by rolling stock problems in each of the last six years
		
			 Line 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Bakerloo 1,075 1,144 1,237 879 968 1,113 
			 Central 2,605 2,423 2,165 2,304 2,864 2,957 
			 District 1,160 1,082 995 981 834 1,149 
			 East London — — — — 106 147 
			 Jubilee 922 1,239 2,376 1,722 1,603 1,427 
			 Circle and Hammersmith & City 1,167 2,170 1,380 1,568 1,463 2,055 
			 Metropolitan 1,363 1,238 1,065 1,047 1,247 1,034 
			 Northern 3,505 4,229 5,942 3,727 1,674 1,518 
			 Piccadilly 2,228 3,115 3,886 2,934 2,609 3,070 
			 Victoria 757 994 821 920 1,053 1,022 
			 Waterloo & City — — — — 27 36 
		
	
	Note:
	1. East London included with Jubilee to 1999–2000.
	2. Waterloo & City included with Central to 1999–2000.

Motor Vehicles

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of (a) the total of all motoring taxation each year in the UK, (b) the annual cost of all roads related spending, (c) the total social costs of pollution from vehicle emissions in each year, (d) the total social costs of congestion on the roads each year and (e) the total social costs of climate change effects of motor vehicles each year; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: My Department's latest estimates as published in Transport Statistics Great Britain 2002 are:
	(a) Motoring taxation: £27,645 million for Great Britain in 2000–01
	(b) Road related spending: £4,042 million for England in 2000–01
	No estimates of total social costs of vehicle emissions, congestion and climate change are available. The answer to the following question (question 1527 02/03) provides estimates of the marginal costs of these impacts.
	Motoring taxation includes Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and Value Added Tax (VAT).

Motorways

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the costs of (a) congestion and (b) pollution relating to traffic on English motorways; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: My Department commissioned a study from the Institute for Transport Studies* at the University of Leeds. That study made the following estimates of congestion and pollution on motorways in Great Britain:
	(a) Congestion costs: 12.8 pence per vehicle km
	(b) Pollution costs: 0.35 to 1.83 pence per vehicle km
	* Surface Transport Costs and Charges, Great Britain 1998, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds July 2001.

Motorways

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the benefits of introducing congestion charging on motorways; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: No general assessment has been made.

Belfast International Airport

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the reply by the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy) on 25 February 2003, Official Report, column 567W, on what occasions since 1994 Checkpoint 11 at Belfast International airport has been subject to a Department for Transport Cargo Inspection; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 11 March 2003
	Checkpoint 11 is not subject to inspection by Department for Transport aviation security inspectors, as its presence is not a requirement under the National Aviation Security Programme. However, the cargo facility accessed via Checkpoint 11 is due to be visited by DfT inspectors shortly

Publicity Campaigns

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list each publicity campaign of his Department and its predecessors over the period 1997–98 to 2002–03 that cost over £500,000, giving the cost in each case; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The details of each advertising campaign for my department and its predecessors over the period 1997–98 to 2002–03 that cost over £500,000 are as follows:
	1. Road safety campaign to promote safer road use behaviour, for example: not drinking and driving, speed reduction, child pedestrian and in car safety, fatigue and motorcycling. Advertising expenditure in each year was:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1997–98 4.48 
			 1998–99 4.63 
			 1999–2000 5.18 
			 2000–01 7.80 
			 2001–02 9.85 
			 2002–03 10 
		
	
	(2) estimated outcome
	2. In addition to road safety, three further campaigns were run by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.
	(i) "Are You Doing Your Bit" campaign to promote awareness of actions which individuals could take to protect the local/global environment. Advertising began in March 1998 and continued until June 2001 when responsibility for the campaign transferred to DEFRA. Total advertising expenditure was £12.85 million.
	(ii) Mayor and Assembly for London campaign to inform people about the voting process; explain responsibilities and encourage people to vote. It ran from February to May 2000. Advertising expenditure was £2.3 million. Prior to this campaign, £563k was committed over two years to raise awareness of the London Referendum and the consequences for the electorate.
	(iii) A Foot and Mouth public information campaign aimed at publicising simple rules to be followed when visiting the countryside during the FMD outbreak and giving sources of further information.
	It ran in March and April 2001. Advertising expenditure was £12 million.
	3. The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, also ran two further campaigns:
	(i) Fire Kills—promoting fire safety messages, which in 2001–02 focused on smoke alarms and smoking materials. For details of expenditure on fire safety campaigns in 2001–02 and previous years I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Mr. Leslie) to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 28 November 2002, Official Report, column 380W.
	(ii) The Rough Sleepers Unit "Change a life" campaign encouraged the general public to volunteer their time, donate goods or give money to charities helping homeless people. It ran from November 2000 to January 2002 inclusive. Advertising expenditure was £500,000. Responsibility for fire safety and homelessness now rest with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

RailMail

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the closure of RailMail on vehicle movements in London.

David Jamieson: The Royal Mail Board has decided to review the future of the MailRail system for operational and commercial reasons. The company envisages only a handful of extra vehicles will be needed after MailRail is taken out of service, as a high proportion of the mail carried will be transported on existing vehicle routes.
	Royal Mail is continually striving to reduce the impact of its vehicular traffic in London by contributing to reductions in congestion and CO2 emissions. The company has already seen a dramatic reduction in the number of miles and journeys undertaken by Royal Mail vehicles in the capital. For example, the switch of sorting NW postcode mail to Greenford from the London North Mail Centre, in Almeida Street, N1, cut the maximum journey time from 45 to just 25 minutes.

Railway Property (Birds)

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent changes there have been or are planned to (a) legislation and (b) directions and guidance to the railway industry and local authorities, relating to the presence of birds on railway property.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	All wild birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which implements the EC Wild Birds Directive. Licences can be issued under section 16 of the Act to derogate from this protection for specific reasons, such as public health and safety. There have not been any changes to the remit of this derogation power.
	The Department does not issue directions or guidance to the railway industry or local authorities relating to the presence of wild birds on railway properties. However, where railway companies or local authorities propose to remove trees or scrub from railway properties, my Department would advise that such work is undertaken outside of the breeding and rearing season.

London Underground

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) train, (b) track and (c) signalling maintenance staff have left the employment of LUL in each year since 1997; and what the total number of each was in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: Detailed staff issues of this nature are a matter for London Underground management.

Railways

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the budget of his Department and its predecessors has been spent on railways in each year from 1983–84 to 2005–06 (planned); and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The percentage of the total Departmental Expenditure Limit spent, or planned to be spent, on railways in each year from 1998–99 to 2005–06 is shown in the table. (Figures for earlier years are not comparable, owing to the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting.)
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1998–99 28.7 
			 1999–2000 22.3 
			 2000–01 20.7 
			 2001–02 28.2 
			 2002–03 30.3 
			 2003–04 35.2 
			 2004–05 33.9 
			 2005–06 36.8

Airport Development

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 795W, on airport development, what rate of return was assessed in section 14.4 of the SERAS Stage Two Appraisal Findings report for each of the Cliffe options; and how far the assessed rates of return for the Cliffe options fell below the target rate of return, measured as a percentage of the target rate.

David Jamieson: The financial appraisal undertaken in the SERAS study indicates that, using airport charges current at the time the analysis was undertaken, the Internal Rate of Return generated by the four runway Cliffe option was some 7 per cent. against a target rate of return of 12.5 per cent.
	The principal results of the financial appraisal of different airport options are presented in the SERAS Stage Two Appraisal Findings report (section 14.4). Chapter seven of the SERAS Financial Modelling and Analysis report sets out the detailed results of the financial analysis. Both reports are available in the House Libraries.

Airport Development

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the ranking of assessed rates of return for the development options listed in section 14.4 of the SERAS Stage Two Appraisal Findings report.

David Jamieson: The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of different airport options is presented in Table 14.11 of the SERAS Stage Two Appraisal Findings report. The financial analysis applied airport charges current at the time the analysis was undertaken. Table 14.11 also gives some indication of the sensitivity of IRRs to other sources of additional revenue.
	Chapter seven of the SERAS Financial Modelling and Analysis report sets out the detailed results of the financial analysis and is available in the House Libraries.

Terrorism

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to put in place measures to counter the risk from terrorist attack to transport infrastructure other than airports.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 24 February 2003, given to the hon. Member for the Vale of York (Miss McIntosh), Official Report, columns 284–85W.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 5 March 2003, ref: 100703, why there was no reference included in the notes to the Accounts.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 5 March 2002, Official Report, columns 1035–36W.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Abandoned Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned cars each local authority in England and Wales stated they had removed in their submissions to the most recent municipal waste survey.

Alun Michael: The latest information on numbers of abandoned vehicles removed and destroyed is listed on 27 November 2002, Official Report, column 271W. Results from the 2001–02 survey are not yet available.

Animal Welfare

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list animal species protected by domestic legislation which her Department plans to lift; and for what reasons such legislation is being reviewed.

Elliot Morley: All wild birds, certain animals and certain plants are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
	Schedules 5 & 8 (list of protected animals and plants respectively) are statutorily reviewed every five years. My Department has received the views of the JNCC and has consulted internally on their advice. A full public consultation will take place this year. JNCC have not recommended the removal of any species.
	I announced on 3 March that the Government have concluded that the protection afforded by domestic legislation to the ruddy duck should be removed. This is in line with our Rural White Paper commitment to review the provisions of Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with a view to rationalising the identification and protection of rare and endangered species.

Birds

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to (a) encourage a reversal in the decline of the number of wet birds, (b) ensure refuges for wintering birds, (c) safeguard resting places for migrating birds travelling north and south and (d) reverse the decline in rare water plants; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 10 March 2003
	The information is as follows:
	(a) Analysis of Wetland Bird Survey count data for 32 wetland bird species by the British Trust for Ornithology shows that for all 32 species, population trends had either increased or stabilised for the five winters to 1999–2000. Therefore, in the non-breeding season at least, these birds are not suffering decline in Great Britain. This is evidence of the effectiveness of the UK network of 243 Special Protection Areas (SPA) classified under the EC Wild Birds Directive; the UK series of 144 Ramsar sites; and the many Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, for their wetland bird interests.
	(b) and (c) A high proportion, in some cases all, of the national and international populations of wintering and migrating wetland birds utilise the protected sites of the UK SPA network. In winter it holds an average of over 2,186,000 non-breeding waterbirds. The habitat protection provided for these birds is a major contribution to their international conservation. Many of the same sites are additionally designated as Ramsar sites and all (on land in England and the great majority elsewhere) are notified as SSSIs.
	(d) The principal form of protection for rare plants is through the designation of their habitat—either as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive, as Ramsar sites, or as SSSI. The Government Biodiversity Action Plan has identified a number of water plants for priority action. A programme of active management for these species and those listed in the 1992 Directive is being funded, mainly through English Nature's Species Recovery Programmes. Results for some species, such as floating water plantain, are very encouraging.

Cleeve Farm

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which farm premises sent carcases for disposal to Cleeve Farm, Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire in the last five years.

Elliot Morley: Cleeve Farm, Westbury-on-Severn, was used as a pyre site to dispose of stock slaughtered at Cleeve Farm itself and also carcases from eight other holdings in the locality. These surrounding farm premises cannot be named for reasons of confidentiality.

Cetaceans

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the European Union on the Wildlife and Habitats Directive in relation to cetacean bycatch; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The UK has lost no opportunity in drawing to the Commission's attention our wish to see EU action on cetacean bycatch. I have raised this repeatedly with Commissioner Fischler, stressing in particular the need for a cetacean bycatch observer programme. Article 12(4) of the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) requires member states to monitor the incidental capture of certain species, including cetaceans.
	We raised the matter again, in the Council of Ministers in January, and direct with Franz Fischler in February, pressing for urgent action to widen coverage off the South West coast where a number of other member states' vessels fish. I was pleased that the Commission included a commitment to take action in this area in papers produced as part of the recent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. I am looking for positive action on this in response to our recent approaches.

Compulsory Purchase

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many properties have been compulsorily purchased by (a) the Environment Agency, (b) the Countryside Agency, (c) English Nature and (d) the Broads Authority in each year since 1999.

Alun Michael: The Environment Agency compulsorily purchased 10 properties in 1999 and six properties in 2000. No properties were compulsorily purchased in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to date.
	There have been no compulsory purchases by the Countryside Agency, English Nature or the Broads Authority since 1999.

Conservation Group

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which members of her Department participate in the Inter-Departmental Consultative Group on Conservation; and when they last attended a meeting of this group.

Elliot Morley: There is no formally constituted group with this title but officials of all the relevant Government Departments are in very regular contact on a wide range of conservation issues.

Disability Discrimination Act (Village Halls)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implications of the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 on village halls with specific reference to the legal requirement placed by the Act upon trustees, cases in which halls may have to close because of non-compliance with the Act, what funding available to meet the requirements of the Act; and the mechanism for access to funds to help meet the Act's requirements.

Alun Michael: I have been engaging in discussion with representatives of the Village Halls Association, other stakeholders, and national and local funding bodies, about a range of issues concerning the financing of village halls and other rural community meeting- places, including the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act and of the Licensing Bill currently before Parliament.
	Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, those service providers who provide services to the public have since 1999 been required to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people to access their services. From 1 October 2004 they will also be required to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises that would otherwise make access impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled customers.
	Those managing village halls or running activities there are subject to the Act in the same way as other service providers; but the test of reasonableness takes account of the provider's financial resources, and there should be no question of village halls being forced to close. However, it is very much in the public interest that activities taking place in village halls should be accessible to disabled people living in rural communities.
	Lead responsibility for funding renovation of village halls lies with the local community, with help from local authorities, national funding agencies, and charitable sources. No earmarked funds are available to help meet any costs resulting from the Disability Discrimination Act. However, very substantial public funds are available to help village halls: around £17 million last year from the Community Fund, and a similar amount in total from other sources.
	A draft Government position paper on the funding and regulation of village halls was produced by my Department for a meeting last week of the stakeholder group I mentioned above: once this has been revised I will place a copy in the Library.

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of domestic customers she estimates have relied on lead pipes for connections to company supplies of drinking water in each year since 1992.

Elliot Morley: Year on year data of the numbers of lead pipe connections supplying drinking water are not available. In 1996, water companies in England and Wales estimated that some 35 per cent. of all connections had lead service pipes.

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what studies (a) have been conducted and (b) are planned to establish the extent of lead contamination in drinking water in (i) hard and (ii) soft water areas.

Elliot Morley: It is well known that soft waters from upland areas are more likely than hard waters to dissolve lead from pipes. All water supplies must comply at consumers' taps with the regulatory standard for lead and water companies must apply additional treatment to plumbosolvent water to ensure compliance.
	The Drinking Water Regulations require water companies to carry out regular monitoring to ensure that all drinking water supplies, whether hard or soft, comply with the regulatory standards. 99.37 per cent. of samples taken in 2001 met the current standard for lead in England and Wales. The Drinking Water Inspectorate has issued guidance to water companies on optimising treatment to reduce plumbosolvency, which takes into account the different characteristics of hard and soft waters.

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to assist householders, particularly those on a low income, who wish (a) to test their domestic drinking water systems to ensure that they are free from lead contamination and (b) to replace or repair domestic drinking water systems contaminated by lead solder.

Elliot Morley: Water companies will normally test water supplies, free of charge, if consumers are concerned that lead pipes might be contaminating their drinking water.
	In properties built before 1970, the main reasons for lead in drinking water are lead connections to the mains and the internal plumbing.
	The use of lead based solders for domestic hot and cold water systems has been banned since 1987. It is very rare for lead solder on drinking water pipes to be the sole reason for a breach of drinking water quality standards.

Drinking Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy and effectiveness of the monitoring by local authorities of drinking water originating from private suppliers.

Elliot Morley: The Drinking Water Inspectorate carries out occasional audits of local authorities' arrangements for implementing the Private Water Supplies Regulations. 10 local authorities in England and Wales were audited in 1992 and 24 in 1993. A survey of laboratories used by local authorities for the analysis of private water supplies was carried out in 1995, and 18 were audited. Two local authorities in England and Wales were audited in 2000. These audits have shown that, in general, the local authorities were implementing the requirements of the regulations.
	We are liaising with local authorities through their organisations about revised arrangements for monitoring private water supplies.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 25 February 2003, Official Report, column 456W, on fishermen, whether she intends to grant socio-economic aid to fishermen under the terms agreed in the December Council allowing fishermen to diversify into businesses outside the marine industry while continuing to fish on a part-time basis provided such diversification means a reduction in fishing effort.

Elliot Morley: We have no plans to do so. Fishermen wishing to diversify their activities are encouraged to contact the Small Business Service and Learning and Skills Councils for advice on support.

Grants

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the administrative costs were for (a) Food and Farming grants, (b) EU Fisheries grants, (c) Land Use and Rural Affairs grants and (d) Environment grants in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Alun Michael: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Private Water Suppliers

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of households are supplied by private water suppliers.

Elliot Morley: Local authorities are responsible for monitoring and, if necessary, enforcing standards of private water supplies in their areas. Each authority is required to keep a register of private supplies. Some 50,000 private water supplies have been registered in England and Wales, of which about 30,000 serve single dwellings. The best available evidence indicates that nearly 1 per cent. of the population in England Wales is supplied by private water supply.

Radioactive Waste

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2003, Official Report, column 551W, on radioactive waste, for what reasons an estimate of future radioactive waste arising from reprocessing is not available; and if she will take steps to obtain the data from BNFL.

Michael Meacher: The previous question asked for an estimate of the volume of waste that will arise over the next 10 years from the reprocessing of British Energy-owned spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield. My answer to this question gave estimates for the volume of low, intermediate and high level waste that would arise if all fuel from British Energy's advanced gas-cooled reactors is reprocessed. It also said that, at present, there are contracts for the reprocessing of about 65 per cent. of British Energy's spent fuel. I understand that decisions have not been taken about how much, if any, of the remaining 35 per cent. of the spent fuel will be reprocessed.

Water Pipes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that lead pipes carrying water into domestic properties are replaced.

Elliot Morley: Drinking water must meet a regulatory standard for lead in the water supplied at consumers' taps. Water companies must treat plumbosolvent water where there is a risk that public water supplies might not comply with this standard.
	We are required to take all appropriate measures to reduce as much as possible the concentration of lead in drinking water supplies in order to meet the standards for lead set by the European Drinking Water Directive. We are encouraged by the results of water companies' treatment programmes to reduce plumbosolvency. It is likely that these will reduce significantly the need to replace lead pipes to the benefit of all customers.
	The need for water companies to replace lead pipes, mainly to meet the final lead standard that comes into force in 2013, is being considered as part of the next periodic review of water companies' prices. The customer's supply pipe remains the responsibility of the customer.

Water Pipes

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of drinking water is carried through (a) blue asbestos pipes and (b) lead pipes.

Elliot Morley: About 10 per cent. of drinking water is carried through white asbestos cement mains. There may be traces of blue asbestos in some white asbestos cement pipes. Water companies estimated in 1996 that about 35 per cent. of drinking water may be carried through lead connections between company mains and customers' supply pipes.
	While use of new asbestos cement pipes is prohibited, this is because of health risks associated with inhalation when cutting and working with the dry material. However, the World Health Organisation considers that a health-based guideline value for asbestos in drinking water is unnecessary.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Nuclear Proliferation

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what resources she has made available to the (a) Office of Civil Nuclear Security, (b) International Atomic Energy Agency and (c) Euratom Safeguards Directorate in respect of combating nuclear proliferation in the last year for which figures are available.

Nigel Griffiths: The Office of Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), which regulates security in the UK civil nuclear industry in order to protect against threats of terrorism and nuclear proliferation, has an operating budget of £1.9 million for the financial year 2002–03.
	DTI has paid the UK's assessed contribution to the Regular Budget of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 2003 of £8.02 million. Many, but not all, of the IAEA's activities funded from the Regular Budget are directly related to non-proliferation.
	The IAEA also benefits from the UK Support Programme to IAEA safeguards. In the financial year 2001–02, expenditure on this programme totalled £722,000. In addition, £80,000 was also provided to support IAEA travel and subsistence costs associated with this programme e.g. to enable IAEA staff to attend training courses in the UK. In addition, from time to time the UK makes voluntary contributions to the IAEA in support of non-proliferation, safety and security and other activities carried out by the Agency.
	The European Communities budget adopted for 2002 includes total payments in respect of European Commission spending on the operational aspects of its application of Euratom safeguards (e.g. inspection and training activities, the purchase, installation and maintenance of safeguards equipment, and laboratories for the analysis of safeguards samples) of 17.6 million Euros. The UK share of these commitments was 19.36 per cent., amounting to slightly less than £2.1 million.

Arms Trade

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will establish a registration system for all UK passport holders and UK residents involved in the brokering of deals for the sale of military and security equipment.

Alan Johnson: The Government propose to register information on all those applying for licences, both for exports and for arms trafficking and brokering activities. This database will be used for licensing and enforcement purposes on an international basis.

Arms Trade

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people the UK arms trade employs (a) nationally and (b) in the south-west.

Alan Johnson: The Ministry of Defence's Defence Analytical Services Agency is responsible for the production of UK defence statistics. The latest employment data (for 2001) are published in Table 1.11 of United Kingdom Defence Statistics 2002, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. Data at a regional level are not available however.

Arms Trade

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the arms trade was worth to United Kingdom public companies in terms of exports in 2002.

Alan Johnson: The Ministry of Defence's Defence Analytical Services Agency is responsible for the production of UK defence statistics. The latest full exports data (for 2001) are published in Table 1.12 of United Kingdom Defence Statistics 2002, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House.

Arms Trade

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much of the South West GDP the arms trade accounted for in 2002.

Alan Johnson: The Ministry of Defence's Defence Analytical Services Agency is responsible for the production of UK defence statistics. The latest full data (for 2001) are published in United Kingdom Defence Statistics 2002, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. Data on GDP are not, however, available at a regional level

Broadband

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the quality of a broadband connection established using a satellite deteriorates during adverse weather conditions; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: Satellite services, like all other radio services, suffer degradation under adverse weather conditions, and this impairment is more pronounced at the higher frequencies often used by satellite services to provide services direct to and from businesses and homes.
	When planning their satellite system, service providers take steps to overcome the effect that normally expected variations in weather conditions may have through careful system design and the use of appropriately sized satellite dishes. Taken together these measures provide a "protection margin" against the effect of weather variations.
	Extreme or unusual weather conditions will still affect even the best designed radio systems, terrestrial or satellite, and impairment or even temporary failure is unavoidable. Fortunately these events tend to happen rarely and are usually very short lived.

Civil Servants

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants have been employed by (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: Full-time equivalent numbers of staff in all civil service Departments and agencies is released twice-yearly by press notice. The latest data, for April 2002, were published on 31 October 2002. Data for April of each year from 1995 to 2001 appear in the latest edition of the annual publication "Civil Service Statistics". Data for pervious years are contained in previous editions of the publication. Copies of the press notices and annual publication are available from the Libraries of the House.
	Comparisons over time are made difficult because of changes in the make up of the Departments and agencies comprising the civil service. Not only do new organisations appear and old ones disappear, but staff changes may reflect the transfer of work between Departments and agencies.
	With the exception of those staff employed by the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, the staff employed by Executive, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are not civil servants. Advisory NDPBs are generally supported by civil servants from their sponsor Departments, and do not employ their own staff.
	My Department publishes annually information on public bodies, including NDPBs. This includes details on the number of staff employed by the public body. Copies of "Public Bodies 2001", and equivalent publication for previous years, are available in the Libraries of the House. "Public Bodies 2002" will be published shortly.

Credit Cards

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to ensure that FSA rules prevent credit card companies from (a) setting minimum payments below the interest charge, (b) failing to show the APR clearly on statements and (c) implying that an interest-bearing period is interest-free.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 7 March 2003
	The provision of information on credit card statements is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and in particular by the Consumer (Running-Account Credit Information) Regulations 1983 (SI No. 1570/83). These require statements provided for running-account credit agreements, such as credit cards, to contain the following information:
	any opening balance on the account;
	the date of any movement on the account;
	the amount of any payment on the account;
	the amount of any drawing on the account; and
	the amount of any interest or other charges on the account.
	Where a statement shows that interest has been applied to the account, it must contain either sufficient information for the customer to be able to check the calculation of that interest; details of the rate of interest that has been applied; or a statement indicating that the rate of interest applied will be provided upon request.
	The form and content of consumer credit advertising is governed by the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 1989 (SI 1989/1125). These are enforced by the Office of Fair Trading, and I understand that the OFT has investigated a number of credit providers who have advertised interest-bearing agreements as being interest-free.
	The practice of some credit card providers of reducing the minimum required monthly repayment is one that I highlighted in my response in January this year to the Second Report of the Governments' Task Force on Tackling Overindebtedness. I stated then that I was worried about the effects that this practice can have on consumers, and in particular that it can only lead to an escalation of the total amount owed and the time required to repay it. I stated that the Government would therefore be considering how consumers might be given better information about the effects of a low minimum payment.
	To that end, and as part of the review of the Consumer Credit Act that I launched in July 2001, I shall be publishing a consultation document on the simplification of the credit advertising regulations in the summer. As well as inviting comments on minimum payments, this will also look at how consumers can get better information in general about credit cards that will enable them to compare offers from different providers. In advance of this consultation, the DTI is in regular discussion with the credit industry and consumer bodies on the scope for a common format for the provision of key information, including details of interest-free periods and the calculation and advertising of APRs.

Departmental Staff

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the distribution of her Department's whole-time equivalent staff was, including the staff in agencies and other bodies reporting to her, in each Government office region and nation of the UK (a) in 1996 and (b) at the most recent available period.

Patricia Hewitt: The numbers of staff in each Department (including its agencies) are shown in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The figures show the data at 1 April each year, and are based on the full-time equivalent figures for the number of permanent staff in each Department, rounded to the nearest 10. Data are shown by Government Office Region, with columns giving the total number of staff in England and the UK.

Fireworks

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she plans to bring in regulations to control the supply and use of fireworks in accordance with the powers laid down within the Fireworks Bill; and what plans she has to ensure that local environmental health officers have the necessary powers, funding and guidance to enforce regulations introduced in accordance with the Fireworks Bill.

Melanie Johnson: Regulations to control the supply and use of fireworks depend upon the Fireworks Bill passing into law. Also any such regulation would be subject to consultation. The needs of local authorities, including environmental health officers, in enforcing regulations would have to be taken into account.

Fireworks

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what guidance will be given to environmental health officers in order for them to assess whether distress, as set out in clause 2 of the Fireworks Bill, has occurred.

Melanie Johnson: This matter will be considered in the drafting of regulations should the Fireworks Bill be passed into law.

Fireworks

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what age limit she plans to set to prohibit the sale of fireworks to young persons; and what plans she has to limit the supply, purchase, possession and use of fireworks to certain (a) times of the year and (b) times of the day.

Melanie Johnson: Any changes in age restriction and other limitations on fireworks would be subject to Regulation made under the Fireworks Bill should it pass into law. There would need to be consultation on any such proposals.

National Minimum Wage

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many enforcement orders have been issued in respect of fair estimate agreements since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage Regulations; and what assessment she has made of the number of fair estimate agreements entered into in that period.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 6 March 2003
	Since the Inland Revenue have kept details of homeworking cases centrally with its Virtual Homeworking Team (set up in October 2001) there have been two cases where an enforcement notice has been issued where a fair estimate agreement was in place. The Revenue believe it is unlikely that other cases might have occurred prior to that.
	The number of fair estimate agreements which individuals have entered into is not known, but anecdotal evidence indicates the take up is low. This is one of the reasons why we are consulting on making changes to these arrangements.

Public Bodies (Arthur Andersen)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which public bodies sponsored by the Department are headed by former partners from Arthur Andersen.

Patricia Hewitt: The East of England Development Agency is headed by Vincent Watts, a former partner of Andersen Consulting.

Recycling

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the technology to be used in the projects in receipt of the bio-energy grants announced in January 2003 will be UK-sourced.

Brian Wilson: We do not keep information on the proportion of project technology in grant applications that is sourced in the UK. We are however keen to promote the capabilities of the UK supply chain in all renewable technologies, and have created the business support team Renewables UK for this purpose.

Tour Operators

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with scheduled tour operators in relation to seating and pricing arrangements on aircraft over the last 12 months.

Melanie Johnson: I have had no specific discussions with tour operators over the seating and pricing arrangements on aircrafts over the last 12 months. My officials have raised this matter with the Federation of Tour Operators and ABTA. Tour operators who belong to these organisations do always try to seat families and couples close together, and where possible in adjacent seats, whether or not these have been pre-booked. If a tour operator offers and charges for a service which guarantees the seating arrangements, then this is a commercial matter for that operator.
	The Civil Aviation Authority are responsible for UK airline safety regulations and they have issued guidelines to airlines on the allocation of seats to family groups. I understand that the CAA has not had any specific discussions with airlines on this issue, although there is continued dialogue between airlines and their assigned CAA inspector regarding all aspects of operational safety and this matter will have been discussed as and when necessary.

DEFENCE

Medical Reservists

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medical reservists there are in the United Kingdom, broken down by speciality.

Lewis Moonie: The numbers of medical reservists in the Volunteer Reserve Forces broken down by specialty, as at 20 February 2003, are provided as follows: Information in respect of ex-Regular medical personnel with a reserve liability is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Consultants Volunteer reservists 
		
		
			 Anaesthetics 55 
			 General Medicine 19 
			 Paediatrics 4 
			 Genito-Urinary Medicine 1 
			 Neurology 2 
			 General Surgery 29 
			 Obstetrics and Gynaecology 13 
			 Urology 6 
			 Orthopaedic Surgery 18 
			 Burns and Plastic Surgery 5 
			 Accident and Emergency 11 
			 Psychiatry 8 
			 Ophthalmic Surgery 2 
			 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 11 
			 Ear, Nose and Throat 4 
			 Rheumatology and Rehabilitation 1 
			 Radiology 6 
			 Pathology 9 
			 Occupational Medicine 1 
			 Public Health Medicine 3 
			   
			 General Medical Practitioners/General Duties Medical Officers (including specialists undergoing consultant training) 301 
			   
			 Nurses  
			 General Nursing Duties 886 
			 Operating Theatre 88 
			 Accident & Emergency 108 
			 Orthopaedic 32 
			 Intensive Care 107 
			 Burns & Plastic Surgery 14 
			 Ophthalmic 6 
			 Genito-Urinary Medicine 4 
			 Gynaecology 4 
			 Neurology 8 
			 Registered Mental Nurse 102 
			 Midwifery 3 
			 Paediatrics 3 
			 Special Care Baby Unit 2 
			 Nurse Tutor 3 
			   
			 Allied Health Professionals  
			 Physiotherapist 72 
			 Environmental Health Officer 31 
			 Environmental Health Technician 7 
			 Laboratory Technician 53 
			 Pharmacist 27 
			 Pharmacy Technician 7 
			 Radiographer 32 
			 Operating Department Practitioner 56 
			 Paramedics 6 
			 Medical Support Officers 113 
			 Combat Medical Technicians/Medical Assistants 1,676 
			   
			 Dental Personnel  
			 General Dental Practitioners 38 
			 Dental Technicians 3 
			 Dental Support Specialists 18 
			 Dental Hygienists 2

Medical Reservists

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medical reservists were found to be unfit for military service in the last period for which figures are available.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 20 January 2003
	As at 1 January 2003, 28 medical Reservists in the Territorial Army and, as at 28 February 2003,14 medical Reservists in the Royal Auxiliary Royal Air Force were medically unfit to deploy on military operations. The Royal Navy does not hold central records on the medical fitness of medical Volunteer Reservists and none of the Services holds central records on the medical fitness of medical ex-Regular Reservists. The medical fitness of these Reservists is only established on mobilisation when they are required to report to their mobilisation centre following receipt of their call-out notice.

Motor Neurone Disease

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has commissioned on the prevalence of motor neurone disease among Gulf War veterans.

Lewis Moonie: Motor neurone disease (MND) is a rare disease and the Ministry of Defence has not specifically commissioned scientific research into the prevalence of it among United Kingdom veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf Conflict. However, through the independent Medical Research Council (MRC), the Ministry of Defence has funded a controlled study of neuromuscular symptoms experienced by United Kingdom Servicemen. Some findings were published by the researchers in a paper entitled: "Neurophysiologic analysis of neuromuscular symptoms in UK Gulf war veterans" in the journal Neurology on 26 November 2002. The researchers reported that they had found no neurophysiologic evidence for a specific neuromuscular disorder that could be linked to previous deployment to the Gulf. At the Ministry of Defence's request, the MRC will shortly provide advice on appropriate areas for future research in the field of Gulf veterans illnesses. The MRC's advice will be published. The MRC is aware of the suggestion that United States Gulf veterans are at greater risk of developing MND than those who did not deploy but the underlying research has not yet been published in the scientific literature. The Ministry of Defence's future Gulf veterans' illnesses research programme will be firmly based on the MRC's recommendations.

Accountancy Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002.

Adam Ingram: Ministry of Defence expenditure on external assistance (EA), of which accountancy services are a part, is contained in the MOD's annual return of expenditure on external assistance. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House, covering the period 1996–97 to 2000–01 and include expenditure categorised by top level budget holder and trading funds. However, expenditure on accountancy services is not recorded as a specific category of EA and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The return for 2001–02 will be published shortly and figures for 2002–03 will be published once the current financial year has ended.

B-52 Bombers

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what benefits to United Kingdom national defence will accrue from the granting of permission to the United States of landing rights for United States Air Force B-52 bombers.

Geoff Hoon: As I told the House on the 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 566, I agreed to the United States Air Force deployment at RAF Fairford as part of our continuing contingency preparations for possible military action in Iraq. The Government have made clear on many occasions the threat posed to the United Kingdom by Iraq's continued possession, in contravention of successive UN Security Council Resolutions, of weapons of mass destruction.

Forces' Medical Services

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what shortfalls obtain against the establishment targets for field hospitals for (a) medical officers and (b) support staff; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: When not deployed on operations regular field hospitals exist with a basic unit establishment of 105 personnel. This enables the unit to function on an administrative and training basis only. For shortfalls against the peacetime establishment, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 326W to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin).
	When the decision is taken to deploy a field hospital on operations it is then moved onto a war fighting establishment by augmenting staff from the Regular Army and Reserve Forces, as appropriate. A decision on the exact level of establishment required is operation specific, and is dependent on the intended role of the unit, and the number of beds it is expected to provide. As such, there is no standard or target.
	Field Hospitals are therefore deployed, in terms of both medical officers and support staff, at full strength.

Industrial Action

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many working days were lost owing to industrial action by staff in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in 2002.

Lewis Moonie: One working day was lost as a result of strike action in the Ministry of Defence in 2002. This occurred in April and was action taken by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union and Prospect. On the same day members of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers Union took strike action for 3.5 hours.
	Any other industrial action short of a strike is not recorded in terms of days lost.
	The MOD is committed to working in partnership with its trade unions and makes every effort to avert industrial action of any kind.

Landmines Act (Prosecutions)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British servicemen have been prosecuted under the Landmines Act 1998.

Adam Ingram: None.

Medical Care

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on private medical care for members of Her Majesty's forces in each of the last five years.

Lewis Moonie: Expenditure on the referral of Service personnel to private healthcare providers in each of the last five years is shown in the table:
	
		£ million
		
			 Financial year Cost 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1998–99 0.12 
			 1999–2000 0.17 
			 2000–01 0.77 
			 2001–02 4.10 
			 2002–03(3) 2.18 
		
	
	(3) As at November 2002
	Notes:
	The referrals were made to a number of private healthcare providers, under both contractual and ad hoc arrangements.
	A small number of referrals to private healthcare providers were made by the Army Training and Recruitment Agency in 2000, but no financial information regarding these referrals is available.
	Some £3K of the expenditure recorded in 2000–01 relates to referrals made by the RAF to local healthcare providers in 2000–01 and 2001–02, but expenditure cannot be separated for each financial year.

Middle East (Health Advice)

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2003, Official Report, column 511W, on Middle East (Health Advice), what record is kept of health promotion advice given to individuals deploying to the Gulf.

Lewis Moonie: Health promotion advice is given to service personnel as part of routine pre-deployment briefings. No central record is required for such briefings, although local records may be kept for administrative purposes.

Ministerial Meetings

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent meetings he has had with Defence Ministers from (a) Poland, (b) the Czech Republic, (c) Hungary, (d) Bulgaria, (e) Romania and (f) the Slovak Republic.

Geoff Hoon: I met the Defence Ministers of Hungary and Poland in the margins of the NATO Informal Ministerial Meeting in Warsaw in September 2002. I met my Czech and Slovak counterparts for bilateral discussions in the margins of the NATO Prague Summit (21–23 November 2002). My most recent bilateral meeting with my Bulgarian counterpart was in June 2002 in Bulgaria. I met the Romanian Defence Minister on 23 January 2003 in London.

Northern Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers are based in Northern Ireland; and from what regiments.

Adam Ingram: The number of Army personnel, under the command of the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland (GOC NI), and stationed in Northern Ireland on 18 February 2003 is 12,566.
	The GOC NI also has under his command troops who are based in Great Britain but who can be called to the Province as and when required.
	Apart from 25 Engineer Regiment, the Northern Ireland Combat Service Support Regiment, 15 Signal Regiment, six Regiment Royal Military Police, five Regiment Army Air Corp and the three Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, which are permanently based in Northern Ireland, the following resident battalions are currently based there on accompanied tours of roughly two years:
	1st Battalion Coldstream Guards
	1st Battalion The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
	1st Battalion The Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Yorkshire
	1st Battalion The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own
	Yorkshire Regiment)
	1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)

QinetiQ

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the new long-term partnering agreement concluded with QinetiQ announced on 3 March 2003, Official Report, columns 77–78WS.

Lewis Moonie: No. At present, it would not be appropriate to place a copy of the long-term partnering agreement in the Library of the House, because it remains commercially sensitive. I am therefore withholding this information under Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

RAF Pilot Training

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last visited the Vale of York to discuss training of RAF pilots; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence visited Royal Air Force (RAF) Linton-on-Ouse in the Vale of York on 6 March, when he attended the annual dinner of the Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron. I understand that he discussed a variety of subjects with those present.

Servicemen (Salary Abatement)

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether an abatement was made to the salary of servicemen in each of the armed forces between 1973 and 1975; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 10 March 2003
	No abatement was applied to the annual recommendations submitted to the Prime Minister by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body between 1973 and 1975, although the review body would have been obliged to observe the constraints imposed by the statutory controls on pay increases, in force between November 1972 and July 1974, as well as the subsequent guidelines of the Social Contract.
	While not an abatement to service pay, in formulating its recommendations the review body would have applied an adjustment, where appropriate, to the comparator salaries used as the basis for officers' and warrant officers' pay during this period to take account of the relative benefits of the armed forces pension scheme. No similar adjustment was required to be made at that time in respect of comparator salaries for other ranks because most service personnel at this level did not complete the necessary 22 years' service then required to qualify for a pension.

Smoking

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policy his Department has adopted on smoking in the workplace.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence's aim, in line with wider Government policy, is to create a non-smoking working environment in so far as it reflects the wishes of staff. This requires surveys to be undertaken and the wishes of staff to be established, unless smoking is prohibited, for operational reasons, in specific areas. Detailed guidance on this policy is promulgated in the Department's Health and Safety Handbook Joint Service Publication 375, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The policy is under constant review to reflect current Health and Safety Commission/Executive guidance.

Sudan

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK service personnel are stationed in Sudan.

Adam Ingram: One.

Territorial Army

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Non-Regular Permanent Staff over 60 are employed in the TA; and in which districts.

Lewis Moonie: The number of Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS) aged over 60 employed in the TA in each of the districts or divisions, as at 1 January 2003, is shown in the table:
	
		
			 District/division Number of NRPS 
		
		
			 HQ 2 Div 20 
			 HQ 4 Div 10 
			 HQ 5 Div 5 
			 HQ London District —(4) 
			 HQ Northern Ireland —(4) 
			 Total 40(5) 
		
	
	(4) Denotes fewer than five
	(5) Figures are rounded to the nearest five and totals may not therefore always equal the sum of the constituent parts

Vaccine Schedule (Gulf Deployment)

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what validation was obtained for studies of vaccines in humans that are now being administered to troops sent to the Gulf.

Lewis Moonie: Service personnel are routinely offered a range of vaccinations to protect against disease. Service personnel deploying to the Gulf region are also offered vaccination against anthrax. All these vaccines are licensed products. The Medicines Control Agency's licensing process requires the licence applicant to conduct studies into the efficacy and safety of their product.
	Vaccination against smallpox is being offered to a cohort of specialist NEC personnel and certain medical personnel some of whom are deploying to the Gulf region. The smallpox vaccine is not currently licensed, but is being used on the basis of expert medical advice.

Written Questions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many named day written questions were tabled to the Department between 15 October 2002 and 24 February 2003; how many that received a holding answer were given a substantive answer (a) within three days, (b) within seven days, (c) within 14 days, (d) within 28 days and (e) over 28 days later; and what procedures the Department has in place to monitor performance on answering (i) parliamentary questions and (ii) ministerial letters.

Lewis Moonie: 444 named day written questions were tabled to the Ministry of Defence between 15 October 2002 and 24 February 2003. Of this number, 153 questions received a holding reply and one remains outstanding. The information could be broken down into the timescales requested only at disproportionate cost.
	Parliamentary questions tabled to the Ministry of Defence are recorded on a database and progress of all parliamentary questions is monitored closely.
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on performance of departments in replying to ministerial correspondence. The Report for 2001 was published on Friday 24 May 2002, Official Report, column 674W. The Report for 2002 will be published in due course.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Animal Welfare

Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor-General how many people in the United Kingdom are banned from keeping animals for life.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	These figures are not recorded.

Provocation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans she has to propose amendments to the law on provocation; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: Two questions have arisen for consideration in recent months: first, whether the law as interpreted by the courts is sound, which includes the question of how the law operates in practice; and/or whether a review of the sentencing guidelines is needed.
	The Home Secretary and the Law Officers with the assistance of the Director of Public Prosecutions are currently considering whether there are grounds for a review of the law of provocation and/or a reference to the Sentencing Advisory Panel. I refer to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) on 28 February 2003 for more details of the work being carried out by the Law Officers and the DPP.
	In December 2002 the Court of Appeal reviewed the sentences imposed on two defendants convicted for the manslaughter of their partners by reason of provocation. The Law Officers referred the sentences to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they appeared to be unduly lenient and that the existing sentencing guidelines did not appear to reflect adequately the seriousness of the offence. Among the other observations in its judgment, in declining to increase the sentences imposed on these defendants the Court of Appeal held that it could not consider whether new guidelines were justified in this difficult area without advice from the Sentencing Advisory Panel.
	Ultimately the responsibility for the criminal law and for making references to the Sentencing Advisory Panel falls to the Home Secretary.

TREASURY

Child Care Tax Credit

Tim Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many current recipients of childcare tax credit he estimates will lose out from April on account of the rate that such credit will operate for a minimum period of four weeks.

Dawn Primarolo: When it is introduced in April, the working tax credit will include a child care element which provides more flexible support for the costs of eligible child care.
	In response to concerns raised by parents paying child care costs weekly, who may have short increases of child care costs during the school holidays, we are bringing forward regulations making a minor change to the system to allow parents to take account of changes in costs lasting less than four weeks. This will allow parents with fluctuating costs to have their tax credit based on their average child care costs, including any short-term fluctuations. The Inland Revenue will issue clear guidance for parents and child care providers on how the system will work from April.

Debt Relief

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of other developed countries regarding the provision of additional relief for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries at the completion point of their relief initiatives;
	(2)  what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of (a) other developed countries, (b) the World bank, (c) the IMF and (d) the Ethiopian Government regarding (i) restructuring and (ii) suspending Ethiopia's debt repayments;
	(3)  what plans he has to (a) organise, (b) host and (c) campaign for a major debate on debt relief involving representatives of countries from the developed and developing countries, the IMF and the World bank.

John Healey: The UK takes a strong lead in the international debate on debt relief. The issue is discussed at most major international meetings, including the Annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World bank, which are attended by representatives from all member countries, including developing countries. The UK will use the forthcoming spring meetings of the IMF and World bank to push for increased efforts on debt relief.
	The staffs of the IMF and World bank have prepared a paper on the options for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries to obtain technical assistance to facilitate the resolution of disputes, including those with commercial creditors. The UK will press for a full discussion of this issue at the spring meetings.
	The UK also believes that where countries have to contend with external shocks, such as sharp falls in the price of key export commodities, we must form a broad consensus on the need for topping-up at completion point to ensure a lasting exit from unsustainable debt. We will work with our international partners to develop more realistic and generous rules for its provision, including agreement that the calculation of topping-up should exclude voluntary bilateral provision of additional 100 per cent. relief, to ensure that this functions as truly additional relief.
	The UK has also been leading the debate on how to raise additional finance for development, including debt relief. The Chancellor and the Secretary of State for International Development have proposed an International Finance Facility (IFF) that will double the amount of development assistance in the years to 2015 from US$50 billion to $100 billion. This money will be disbursed mainly in the form of grants, including debt relief. This proposal is being worked up through the G7 and other forums in the run up to the G8 heads of state summit in June.
	Officials meet regularly with their counterparts in other developed countries, and in a variety of international organizations, to discuss a wide range of issues.

Debt Relief

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the heavily indebted poor countries which have had full debt relief from the UK.

John Healey: The UK always goes further than is required under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC) and provides 100 per cent. debt relief. Under the HIPC initiative a country receives interim debt relief on payments due when it reaches Decision Point and subsequently the debt is irrevocably cancelled at Completion Point. To reach Decision Point and demonstrate their commitment to poverty reduction, a country must prepare an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), to get to Completion Point they need to develop a full PRSP, and usually make progress in implementing it for one year.
	Of the 42 countries classified as HIPCs four are currently expected to have a sustainable burden of debt after traditional debt relief. Of the remaining 38 countries, 26 have now reached Decision Point with US$62 billion in debt relief committed compared with the $100 billion total. Six of these countries have reached Completion Point and have had the totality of their debts owed to the UK irrevocably cancelled. For the 20 countries still at Decision Point the UK provides 100 per cent. relief on debt service payments, and stands ready to irrevocably cancel their stock of debt at Completion Point. Out of 12 countries yet to reach Decision Point, eight are currently affected by conflict and this makes their progress in the HIPC initiative difficult. For these countries yet to reach Decision Point the UK holds in trust any debt service payments made until they can be returned to fund poverty reduction. The UK is the only creditor to operate this policy and has called on others to follow its lead.
	The HIPCs that have reached completion point are: Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda
	The HIPCs that have reached decision point are: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, The Republic of the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tomé et Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Zambia.
	The HIPCs yet to reach completion point are: Burma*, Burundi*, Central African Republic*, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo*, Republic of the Congo*, Côte D'Ivoire, Lao PDR, Liberia*, Somalia*, Sudan* and Togo.
	* Conflict-affected countries.

Inland Revenue

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax return forms were submitted with inaccuracies in 2001–02; what the cost of follow-up work on inaccurate returns was; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Revenue does not have this information.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money has been (a) set aside for military activities in respect of Iraq and (b) spent to support (i) peacemaking, (ii) peacekeeping, (iii) non proliferation and (iv) disarmament inspections carried out by the United Nations in 2002–03.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor has allocated a contingency reserve of £1.75 billion to meet our international defence responsibilities in this respect.

National Insurance

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has commissioned into a recalculation of National Insurance contributions.

Dawn Primarolo: Each year the Government Actuary's Department are required by legislation to estimate the likely effects on the National Insurance Fund of changes to benefit rates and contribution rates.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment HM Treasury has made of the future expansion in membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Since its foundation in 1960 10 countries have joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's original membership of 20. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is responsible for the Government's institutional relationship with the OECD. Treasury officials will be working with the FCO to assess the impact of possible enlargement of the OECD. There is no automatic process through which countries can become eligible to join the OECD, but the UK's view is that the OECD should establish a coherent strategy encompassing potential enlargement, requests for observership status, and its approach to non-members though Outreach programmes. The strategy should ensure that the OECD enhances its ability to perform its core tasks.

Public Documents (Foreign Languages)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of providing public documents issued by his Department in languages other than English.

John Healey: The Treasury does not have a specific budget for producing Treasury publications in languages other than English.
	The documents most regularly produced in languages other than English are the Budget and pre-Budget report leaflets, which are also made available in Welsh. Documents are very occasionally produced in other European languages, such as the pamphlets associated with the paper "Realising Europe's Potential: Economic Reform in Europe" (February 2002), which were produced in French, Spanish and Italian.

Tax Credits

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates his Department has made of the costs of the provision of (a) public and (b) hon. Member helplines following the introduction of the new tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The full costs incurred in the current year (2002–03) on the provision of helplines for new tax credits, including setting up, live running and staff costs, are estimated at £53 million. There are no separate figures for the hon. Member helpline, but these will be minimal in the context of the overall costs.

Tax Credits

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in the City of York council area have been helped by each of the tax credits since they were introduced.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of recipients of WFTC and Disabled Person's Tax Credit in each local authority and each constituency are shown in "Working Families' and Disabled Person's Tax Credit Statistics: Geographical Analyses" for each quarter. Copies are on the Inland Revenue website, www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk. Information about the numbers eligible for the Children's Tax Credit is not available by local authority, but it is estimated that about 400,000 families in Yorkshire and The Humber will benefit from it.

Tax Evasion

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the total amount of tax evaded in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: There is no reliable measure of the total tax and other duties lost to evasion. In his report, published in March 2000, Lord Grabiner QC commented on the scale of the hidden economy and said:
	"By its nature, the size of the informal economy is hard to measure. Most estimates are based on analysing high-level economic aggregates, such as labour market statistics or income and expenditure surveys, and calculate the result as a percentage of GDP. However there is research which suggests that these estimates tend to be exaggerated.
	It would be impractical to arrive at a precise and meaningful figure as to the scale of the problem without a considerable investment of time and resources."

VAT (Welfare Services)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact of the introduction of VAT exemptions for welfare services provided by state-regulated private welfare agencies on (a) the costs, (b) the revenue and (c) the profitability of such agencies.

John Healey: As a result of these changes, the 60,000 sick, elderly or disabled people who pay for home care services could see a reduction in costs of up to 13 per cent. No specific estimate has been made for the impact on state-regulated private welfare agencies. The impact of the changes on their revenue and profitability will depend upon the price charged for their services. In setting their prices, agencies will take a range of commercial factors into account, of which the exemption for welfare services is only one.

Voluntary Sector

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the Government's future plans for the voluntary sector.

Paul Boateng: Following the publication of the "Next Steps on Volunteering and Giving in the UK" discussion document in December, we are now consulting a wide range of stakeholders in the voluntary sector and beyond on the Corporate Challenge to develop a package to encourage businesses to support their communities; and on the Gap Year Pilots to encourage young people to volunteer. The results will be publicised in due course. In addition, a consultation document on futurebuilders will be published soon and will be available in the House Library.

Young People

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds were not in education, training or employment in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000, (e) 2001 and (f) 2002 in (i) Coventry and (ii) the UK.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 10 March 2003
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from L Cook to Jim Cunningham, dated 12 March 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about 16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, training or employment. (101188)
	The attached tables give the information requested for the United Kingdom and West Midlands Metropolitan County, for the three month period ending November of each year from 1997 to 2002. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and are subject to sampling variability from year to year. They are not seasonally adjusted. The LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates for Coventry Local Authority District.
	
		Table 1: Percentage of 16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, training or employment(6); United Kingdom; 1997 to 2002
		
			 September to November Per cent. not seasonally adjusted 
		
		
			 1997 10.8 
			 1998 11.5 
			 1999 11.4 
			 2000 11.3 
			 2001 12.0 
			 2002 12.8 
		
	
	(6) People aged 16–18 who are not in education, training or work as a percentage of all aged 16–18.
	Note:
	These Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have not yet been adjusted to take account of the Census 2001 results.
	Source:ONS Labour Force Survey
	
		Table 2: Percentage of 16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, training or employment(7); -- West Midlands Metropolitan County; 1997 to 2002
		
			 September to November Per cent. not seasonally adjusted 
		
		
			 1997 16.7 
			 1998 13.6 
			 1999 14.6 
			 2000 16.0 
			 2001 11.7 
			 2002 16.1 
		
	
	(7) People aged 16–18 who are not in education, training or work as a percentage of all aged 16–18.
	Note
	These Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have not yet been adjusted to take account of the Census 2001 results.
	Source :
	ONS Labour Force Survey

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Deported Resistants

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government has to be represented at the official opening of the European Centre for Deported Resistants scheduled for April 2005 in Natzweiler-Struhof, France.

Denis MacShane: The Government will decide on attendance nearer the time of the opening.

Libya

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) the freedom of speech, (b) the freedom of the press, (c) the freedom of association and (d) the freedom of religion in Libya;
	(2)  what recent assessment his Department has made of human rights violations by (a) the Libyan Government and (b) the Libyan security forces;
	(3)  what recent assessment his Department has made of levels of political violence and repression by the Libyan Government;
	(4)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the use of forced labour by the Libyan Government;
	(5)  what recent assessment his Department has made of discrimination against tribal groups in Libya;
	(6)  what action his Department is taking to raise the issue of Libya's record on human rights at the United Nations.

Mike O'Brien: Diplomatic links with Libya were re-established in July 1999, and since then, our embassy has been active in developing links with various human rights organisations in the country. However, access for international human rights NGOs to visit has been rare, and it is difficult to obtain detailed information on the various human rights issues raised by the hon. Member. There have been some positive signs: in September 2002, the Libyan Government announced the release of all political prisoners other than those it has linked to al-Qaeda; in January 2003, they commuted the death sentence on three Ghanaians and one Nigerian; and earlier this year, the Qadhafi Foundation for Charitable Associations launched an anti-torture campaign. We are also encouraged by Colonel Qadhafi's reference, in a speech on 31 August 2002, to the need to discuss abolition of the political "People's" courts. However, we remain concerned about the overall human rights situation in Libya and encourage the Libyans to show they are committed to improving their record during their high-profile chairmanship of the forthcoming Commission on Human Rights (CHR). In the meantime, we are discussing with EU partners whether to make reference to Libya at this year's CHR.

Alenia Marconi Radar System

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations the UK Government had with other EU member states prior to granting an export control licence for the sale of the Alenia Marconi Systems radar system to the Government of Sudan; and which EU member state the UK Government had to notify subsequent to the application for an export control licence being approved.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 10 February 2003
	The Government do not normally comment on specific licences, nor on discussions with other EU member states. All export licence applications for Sudan are assessed against the EU consolidated criteria, announced to Parliament on 26 October 2002.

Angola

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Baroness Amos had with the Government of Angola regarding (a) illegal diamond trafficking, (b) mine removal programmes, (c) the peace process in that country and (d) humanitarian aid to that country during her recent visit to Africa; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My noble Friend Baroness Amos has made two recent visits to Angola. In her first visit, she discussed a wide range of political, economic and humanitarian issues, including mine removal, the peace process and development programmes. She has also discussed regional and international issues with the Government of Angola.

Arab-Israel Conflict

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the conclusions of the Palestinian reform conference in London on 14 January; what his latest assessment is of the Bush peace plan; what assessment he has made of the proposals put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister for a resolution of the conflict; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The London meeting on 14 January had a positive impact on Palestinian reform and nation-building efforts. In particular, it advanced work on constitutional reform and the appointment of a Prime Minister. Quartet representatives meeting in London between 18 and 20 February recorded their appreciation of its value in paving the way for the early implementation of the roadmap, the internationally-accepted means of realising President Bush's vision of a peace settlement. We look forward to the early publication of that roadmap now that a new Israeli Government is in place.

Arab-Israel Conflict

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the US Administration, (b) the EU, (c) the UN and (d) Arab countries regarding the proposals put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister for a resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The policies of both parties to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute are the subject of constant discussion between the UK and other interested third parties, including the US, UN and EU, as Quartet members, and the Arab Three—Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. As we have made clear, we look to the new Israeli Government to signal without delay its acceptance of the Quartet roadmap in its present form.

Award Schemes

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the award schemes in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002 promoted by the Department; what their scope was; when the relevant participating organisations are scheduled to be sent results; and whether other parties will be given notification of the results at the same time.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office promoted no award schemes in 2001. In 2002, the FCO organised a competition with a prize worth £1,250 for the best essay that addressed an international economic issue likely to pose major challenges for policy-makers over the next five years.
	To be eligible, participants had to be undertaking a first or postgraduate degree at a UK university in straight economics or with a substantial economics component. Employees of the FCO and their relatives were not eligible to apply. Essays had to be between 5,000 and 7,000 words. The essay must not have been previously published. It was a condition of applying that the authors grant the FCO the right to publish the prize-winning essays. Entries had to be typed and accompanied by an application form signed by the entrant's course tutor or research supervisor.
	Results were sent out in April 2002. Non-winning entrants were notified at the same time.

Bangladesh

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Bangladeshi Government about the new law in Bangladesh that provides immunity to members of the armed forces in cases where civilians have been killed; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Our high commission in Dhaka and their EU colleagues have discussed mistreatment of detainees held under Operation Clean Heart with the Bangladesh authorities and specifically raised concerns over the draft Indemnity Ordinance. The Joint Indemnity Bill was passed by Parliament on 23 February. It included an amendment allowing security forces to take internal action, including by court marshal, to punish wrongdoers. We look to the Bangladesh Government to ensure perpetrators of human rights abuses are brought to justice.

Commercial Matters (Overseas Guidance)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance his Department provides to officials in UK embassies and diplomatic missions overseas with regard to the arrangement and conduct of (a) meetings and (b) telephone discussions concerning commercial matters.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 11 March 2003
	No specific guidance has been issued regarding the arrangement or conduct of meetings or telephone discussions concerning commercial matters. General guidance to staff in British Trade International, including staff in overseas posts, emphasises the need to ensure that information provided by business contacts is handled carefully and that information received from or about a British business should not be disclosed, without the latter's permission, to other firms or organisations.

Convention on the Future of Europe

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will seek to incorporate the UK's opt-out from the euro in the draft document from the Convention on the Future of Europe.

Denis MacShane: The Government have made clear that they will only recommend UK membership of the single currency if it is in the national economic interest and the economic benefits are clear and unambiguous. A comprehensive and rigorous assessment of the five economic tests will be made by June of this year. If, on the basis of the assessment, the Government take a decision to recommend joining, it will be put to a vote in Parliament and then to a referendum of the British people. Government, Parliament and the people must all agree. Unless and until they do, the Government will not agree to any Treaty that removed the UK's opt-out from EMU.

Departmental Telephone Directory

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the most recent internal telephone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office produces an unclassified internal telephone directory, which includes the main contact points and is updated every six months. I am arranging for the most recent edition, which was updated in November 2002, to be deposited in the Library.

EU-Africa Meeting

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) European and (b) African partners regarding re-scheduling the postponed EU-African meeting that was intended to be held in April 2003; what date and location have been agreed; what impact cancelling this meeting will have on relations between the two regions; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed this matter with European colleagues on several occasions, including at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 27 January 2003. The EU has agreed that the EU-Africa summit will be held at the earliest possible date; Portugal has renewed its offer to host it. We are committed to the EU-Africa dialogue and discussions with African partners are being taken forward by the EU troika. African countries recognise that the summit could not be held in April 2003 because it would not have been possible to achieve the broadest participation at the highest level. They also acknowledge the commitment of this Government towards Africa, as shown by our significant development programme, which will rise to £1 billion per annum by 2006, and our support to Africa in a number of multilateral fora, including as one of the prime movers behind the G8 Africa Action Plan announced at Kananaskis in June last year.

Euro

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is the Government's policy that the UK's opt-out from the euro should be included in the draft European constitution.

Denis MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him today (UIN 101655).

Gibraltar

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Ministry of Defence regarding commemoration of 300 years of British sovereignty in Gibraltar in 2004.

Denis MacShane: As yet there have been no formal discussions between the FCO and the Ministry of Defence on the 300th anniversary of the capture of Gibraltar in 1704 by British forces.

Gibraltar

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Gibraltar regarding commemoration of 300 years of British sovereignty in Gibraltar in 2004.

Denis MacShane: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 26 February 2003, Official Report, column 594W. There have been some informal exchanges between officials and the Gibraltar Government on this matter.

HMS Mauritius

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the cost in each year since 1997 of training military personnel from the security forces of Mauritius; and how many persons have been trained each year.

Mike O'Brien: Records of exact numbers and costs for training military personnel from Mauritius are held centrally by the MOD, and we were unable to obtain them in the timeframe available. A fuller answer will be given to my hon. Friend as soon as we can.
	According to the information available, since 2000, a total number of 78 members of the Special Mobile Force (SMF) of Mauritius have received training from the UK. They are as follows:
	2000—5;
	2001—22;
	2002—51

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his US counterparts regarding the disarming of the Iraqi population following any successful removal of the Iraqi regime.

Mike O'Brien: No decision to launch military action against Iraq has been taken. We regularly discuss all aspects of Iraq policy with our US counterparts.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions Baroness Amos had with the Governments of (a) Guinea, (b) Cameroon and (c) Angola regarding the disarmament of Iraq and UN Resolution 1441; during her recent visit to Africa, what the conclusion of those discussions was; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My noble Friend Baroness Amos met President Conte of Guinea, President Dos Santos of Angola and President Biya of Cameroon during her recent visit to Africa. She discussed the disarmament of Iraq in accordance with UNSCR 1441 and a range of other bilateral and regional issues.

Iraq

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the US Secretary of State on post- war reconstruction of Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: No decision has been taken to launch military action against Iraq. We regularly discuss all aspects of Iraq policy with our US counterparts.

Ivory Coast

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Baroness Amos has had with the Government of Guinea regarding the present situation in the Ivory Coast; what steps his Department is taking to address this situation; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My noble Friend, Baroness Amos, discussed regional issues during her visit to Conakry on 25 February 2003. She is also in regular touch with a wide range of ECOWAS leaders about the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, including the chairman of ECOWAS, President Kufuor of Ghana.
	We believe that the Linas Marcoussis Agreement offers the basis for a peaceful political settlement. We urge all Ivorians to work constructively for its implementation. Recent UK support has included £2 million to assist deployment of the ECOWAS peace-monitoring force, and £1 million in humanitarian assistance.

North Korea

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department have had with the Governments of (a) the Republic of Korea, (b) China and (c) Japan regarding the security situation in North Korea; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: I discussed this issue during my visit to the region last week, where I held meetings with the new South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, Foreign Minister, Yoon Young-kwan, National Security Adviser, Ra Jong Yil, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in Seoul, and the Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister, Tetsuro Yano, in Tokyo.
	We have made clear in all our contacts with other Governments that we support a peaceful resolution of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula through multilateral dialogue.

Overseas Trips

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the overseas trips made by himself and other Members of his ministerial team in 2002; and what the (a) purpose and (b) cost was in each case.

Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W.

Palestine

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received about the state of health of the Palestinian MP, Marwan Barghouti; and what representations he is making to ensure that Israel complies with Articles 30, 31 and 32 of the Third Geneva Convention and Articles 91 and 92 of the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of its treatment of Mr. Barghouti.

Mike O'Brien: We have received information that Marwan Barghouti's health has deteriorated. Our embassy in Tel Aviv is making inquiries of the Israeli Government over these reports. On 28 February 2003, I wrote to the Israeli Ambassador to raise our concerns. I understand he has now been given the required medication.
	The Israeli District Court started legal proceeding against Mr. Barghouti on 5 September 2002. The next hearing is set for 6 April 2003, and we understand that the trial will be over by the end of May 2003. We will continue to monitor this case closely.

Turkey

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the recent vote in the Turkish Parliament regarding the deployment of military troops to that country; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The Government are following developments in Turkey closely, including the recent Iraq-related vote in Parliament. Turkey's contribution to the search for peace and security in the region includes its own strong respect for democratic processes.

UNSCOM

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of Iraq's known weapons of mass destruction were destroyed or otherwise disabled by UNSCOM inspectors up to December 1998.

Mike O'Brien: As a result of Iraqi concealment and deceit, UNSCOM was never able to verify the full extent of Iraq's holdings of weapons of mass destruction, so it is not possible to give an accurate estimate of what proportion of them had been destroyed.
	It is clear, however, from the final report of UNSCOM's Executive Chairman Richard Butler that there were substantial numbers of chemical and biological weapons, large quantities of the materials for the manufacture of such weapons and a number of missiles with a range beyond the 150 km limit prescribed by the United Nations still unaccounted for when UNSCOM left Iraq in December 1998.

Zimbabwe

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those persons the Baroness Amos met during her recent visit to Africa; what discussions she had on the role of Zimbabwe within the African Union during that visit; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: During her recent visit (25 to 28 February 2003) to Africa, my noble Friend Baroness Amos met President Conte of Guinea, President Dos Santos of Angola and President Biya of Cameroon.
	She discussed the political, economic and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe with Angola's President Dos Santos, the current Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Zimbabwe

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list assets frozen under EU sanctions against Zimbabwe, broken down by (a) name of account holder, (b) amount and (c) date on which they were frozen; what impact freezing these assets has had upon the political situation in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The assets freeze has targeted Mugabe and senior Zimbabwean officials. Assets worth £513,367.70 have been frozen in the UK and Dependent Territories under the EU's Common Position. These are held in 25 personal accounts. We are withholding details of the individual account holders under Exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, as unwarranted disclosure would constitute, or could facilitate, an unwarranted invasion of privacy. We do not have figures for assets frozen by other EU states under the Common Position.
	The assets freeze has sent a strong message to the Mugabe regime, underlining the EU's concern at the internal political situation.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Child Care

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the regional variation in cost of child care; and if she will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The Government appreciate that the cost of child care can be high, especially for parents with babies or young children needing full day care and that there are regional differences in the cost.
	Working parents, subject to the level of their income, may receive support through the child care tax credit element of the Working Families Tax Credit or the Disabled Person's Tax Credit (Working Tax Credit from April 2003). Tax credit is rightly targeted at lower and middle income families who may use a range of types of child care.
	The cost of child care reported in the Department for Education and Skills 2001–02 audit shows an England average of £101.01 a week for full day care and £132.49 for London—the region with the highest child care costs. The child care tax credit provides for up to 70 per cent. of costs of eligible child care. It can pay up to £94.50 a week for one child (where the child care cost is £135), and up to £140 a week for two or more children (where the cost is £200). No Government have provided the kind of direct support for the costs of child care that is delivered by the child care tax credit. £1 million a day is now spent on supporting parents with child care costs.
	In addition, support is also available through various grants and access funds for parents undertaking further and higher education, for participants on the New Deals and those receiving Jobseeker's Allowance. Lone Parents participating in the New Deal for Lone Parents programme, can receive assistance with the costs of registered child care while attending job interviews, approved training and meetings with their Personal Advisors.
	The DfES and the Inland Revenue will continue to monitor the cost of child care to ensure good quality affordable and accessible child care is available for all those who need it.

Education (Coalfield Areas)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what targets he has set for raising educational aspirations among young people in the coalfields.

Ivan Lewis: No targets are set to measure educational aspiration. However, this Department has strategies that are aimed at helping to raise educational attainment in coalfield and other areas. In "14–19: opportunity and excellence" (published 21 January 2003), we outlined our plans to transform the learning experience between 14 and 19 so that young people have a greater choice and flexibility to follow coherent learning pathways that reflect their individual strengths and aspirations. We believe that increased choice and flexibility, and improved coherence and quality of programmes, will help to raise young people's aspirations and those of their parents and wider communities. To support delivery and give focus to our proposals for 14–19 reform, we have set ourselves targets to increase young people's participation and attainment in education. These are:
	compared with 2002, the proportion of 19-year-olds achieving 5 GCSE grades A* to C, or the equivalent vocational qualifications, will rise by 3 percentage points by 2004, and a further 3 percentage points by 2006;
	by 2010, 90 per cent. of young people by age 22 will have participated in a full-time programme fitting them for entry into higher education or skilled employment;
	by 2004 at least 28 per cent. of young people will enter a modern apprenticeship by age 22.

Connexions Service

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which pupils have access to the independent advice provided by the Connexions service; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: All young people aged 13–19 have access to impartial information, advice and guidance offered by the Connexions service. Access is via maintained schools, city academies, colleges, high street centres and Connexions Direct, the telephone and web-based service currently being trialled in several areas of England.
	Young people also have access to the Youth Services, who can provide informal personal and social education for young people. They can help them prepare for adult life by:
	acquiring social skills,
	helping them to become responsible citizens and
	preparing them for the world of work.

Grant Funding

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his statement of 7 February 2003, Official Report, column 29WS, which London boroughs qualify for grant funding to meet the cost of the 2003 teachers' pay settlement; and how much money that grant is in each case.

David Miliband: The table contains the information requested. The Secretary of State has announced that a grant of over £11 million will be available for 2003–04 to those authorities where the DfES recognises that there are affordability issues created by the recommendations of the School Teachers' Review body for London. The grant is being given to those authorities in London who have the lowest increase in Education Formula Spending Share per pupil or receive the floor increase for Revenue Support Grant in 2003–04.
	
		£ million
		
			 Authorities Total grant 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 1.031 
			 Barnet 0.579 
			 Bexley 0.490 
			 Bromley 0.594 
			 Camden 0.698 
			 Croydon 0.695 
			 Enfield 0.665 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0.739 
			 Haringey 1.292 
			 Havering 0.475 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0.491 
			 Lambeth 0.391 
			 Redbridge 0.017 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0.261 
			 Sutton 0.378 
			 Waltham Forest 0.534 
			 Wandsworth 1.141 
			 Westminster 0.818 
			 Total 11.290

Overarching Strategy for Children andYoung People

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will publish the Overarching Strategy for Children and Young People.

John Denham: holding answer 7 March 2003
	The Government is determined to improve outcomes for all children and young people, wherever they live, whatever their background. We will publish an overarching strategy later this year, setting out the nation's vision for children and young people, the outcomes that we want to see them achieve, and what needs to happen to make this vision a reality.
	The strategy will be closely linked with the forthcoming green paper, which will identify options for improving services for children at risk.

Private/Public Boarding Schools

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his policy is on looked after children attending (a) private and (b) public boarding schools; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Any decision, regarding the education that is most suitable for a child in care, should be taken locally by those who have responsibility for that child's care and welfare. The decision will be taken following an assessment of the child's developmental needs, including education, and should be in the best interest of the child.

School Governors

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding was allocated to the National Governors Council in each year since 1998–99.

David Miliband: The table shows how much funding has been allocated to the National Governors Council in each year since 1998–99.
	
		£
		
			 Year Funding allocated 
		
		
			 1998–99 141,596 
			 1999–2000 156,226 
			 2000–01 158,507 
			 2001–02 115,000 
			 2002–03 116,500

School Governors

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent on supporting parent governor representatives, including the costs of the e-mail network, website and conferences, since they were established.

David Miliband: Since the first parent governor representatives (PGRs) were elected in September 1999 we have provided £101,520 support for the integrated website and e-mail network and £87,475 for conferences. LEAs are also encouraged to provide financial support for PGRs because PGRs exist to represent the views of all parents on local authority overview and scrutiny committees and sub-committees dealing with education.

Specialist Schools

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the (a) specialist schools and (b) local education authorities that exercised the option to select up to 10 per cent. of pupils by aptitude in each of the last three years, indicating (i) the nature of the specialism, (ii) the status of the school, (iii) the percentage of pupils selected, (iv) the percentage of pupils with statements and (v) the percentage of pupils receiving free school meals.

David Miliband: holding answer 10 March 2003
	On the basis of the latest collated information, the attached table lists the specialist schools and local education authorities that exercised the option to select up to 10 per cent. of their pupils by aptitude in the 2000–01 and 2001–02 academic years. Most of the schools and LEAs listed were selecting by aptitude prior to the 1998 Act, and therefore some schools listed select more than 10 per cent. of their pupils.
	We cannot provide the figures for the 2002–03 academic year as we collect information on aptitude selection from the progress reports which specialist schools are required to submit annually. Specialist schools designated in 2002 will not submit their first progress report until September 2003. The 217 specialist schools that were designated in February 2003 will not begin operating until this September, and will submit their first progress reports in September 2004.
	The information requested on the percentage of pupils receiving free school meals cannot be provided as it is the Department's current policy not to publish figures about individual schools without their prior agreement.
	
		30 specialist schools operational as of September 2000 which DfES figures suggest are selecting a percentage of their pupils on the basis of aptitude in their specialist subjects
		
			 Specialism School LEA Status Operational as specialist school from September Percentage of pupils selected(8) Percentage of pupils on roll with statements of SEN 
		
		
			 Technology Mill Hill County High School Barnet, LB of Foundation 1994 Up to 10% 3.6 
			 Sports Whitefield School Barnet, LB of Community 1999 Up to 10% 5.1 
			 Sports Oldfield School Bath & NE Somerset Foundation 1997 Up to 10% 0.6 
			 Technology Ninestiles School Birmingham Foundation 1997 Up to 10% 3.4 
			 Technology Small Heath School Birmingham Foundation 1994 Up to 10% 1.2 
			 Sports Oakbank School Bradford Foundation 1997 Up to 10% 2.7 
			 Sports The Wye Valley School Buckinghamshire Community 1998 Up to 10% 4.5 
			 Arts Brentwood Ursuline Convent School Essex Voluntary Aided 1999 Up to 10% 0.3 
			 Technology Philip Morant School Essex Foundation 1994 Up to 10% 1.2 
			 Technology St Martin's School Essex Foundation 1995 Up to 10% 0.8 
			 Language Bohunt School Hampshire Foundation 1996 Up to 10% 0.9 
			 Language Hockerill Anglo European School Hertfordshire Foundation 1998 Up to 10% 0.9 
			 Technology Chaucer Technology School Kent Foundation 1996 67% 1.6 
			 Technology Cornwallis School Kent Foundation 1994 Up to 10% 3.4 
			 Technology Sandwich Technology School Kent Foundation 1996 Up to 10% 1.7 
			 Technology Archbishop Temple School Lancashire Voluntary Aided 1995 Up to 10% 1.6 
			 Arts Intake High School Leeds Community 1998 Up to 10% 4.3 
			 Arts North Kesteven School Lincolnshire Foundation 2000 Up to 10% 1.9 
			 Technology Archbishop Blanch School Liverpool Voluntary Aided 1996 6% 1.7 
			 Technology St Margaret's C of E High School Liverpool Voluntary Aided 1997 15% 1.7 
			 Technology Denbigh School Milton Keynes Foundation 1997 Up to 10% 1.5 
			 Technology Lynn Grove VA High School Norfolk Voluntary Aided 1994 15% 0.7 
			 Arts Latimer Community Arts College Northamptonshire Community 1997 Up to 10% 3 
			 Technology Lodge Park School Northamptonshire Foundation 1994 Up to 10% 1.4 
			 Technology George Spencer GM School Nottinghamshire Foundation 1994 Up to 10% 0.6 
			 Technology Deacon's School Peterborough city Foundation 1994 15% 1.3 
			 Technology Glyn Technology School Surrey Foundation 1994 15% 0.5 
			 Technology Heathside School Surrey Foundation 1995 |4% 1.2 
			 Arts Chestnut Grove School Wandsworth Community 1997 16% 3.5 
			 Arts The St Marylebone School Westminster Voluntary Aided 1998 Up to 10% 1.6 
		
	
	(8) The percentages refer to aptitude selection relating to the schools' specialist school designations, some schools may also select for aptitude in other specialisms.
	Note
	This information was taken from progress reports submitted by 536 schools operational as at September 2000.
	The 1998 School Standards and Framework Act provides for schools with a specialism to select up to 10 per cent. of their intake on the basis of aptitude for a specialist subject prescribed in regulations. Prior to the 1998 Act schools had greater discretion over aptitude selection and this accounts for the percentages above 10 per cent.

University Intakes

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which universities in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002 took (i) more than 90 per cent.of their students from state schools and (ii) more than 20 per cent.of students from low participation backgrounds; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The latest available data are shown in the two tables.
	Higher Education Institutes in England taking more than 90 per cent. of young students from state schools in 1999 and 2000.
	
		
			  1999 state schools percentage 2000 state schools percentage 
		
		
			 Anglia Polytechnic University 94 95 
			 Bath Spa University College 94 96 
			 Bishop Grosseteste College 98 98 
			 Bolton Institute of Higher Education 100 99 
			 Bournemouth University 91 91 
			 Bretton Hall 94 96 
			 University of Brighton 93 93 
			 Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College 97 98 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University College 94 96 
			 University of Central England 95 96 
			 University of Central Lancashire 97 96 
			 Chester College of Higher Education 92 96 
			 University College Chichester 94 95 
			 Coventry University 94 94 
			 Cumbria Institute of the Arts 98 100 
			 Dartington College of Arts 99 93 
			 De Montfort University 94 95 
			 University of Derby 97 98 
			 University of East London 96 98 
			 Edge Hill College of Higher Education 98 98 
			 University of Essex 91 93 
			 Falmouth College of Arts 98 98 
			 University of Gloucestershire 95 93 
			 University of Greenwich 95 96 
			 University of Hertfordshire 95 96 
			 University of Huddersfield 97 97 
			 Keele University N/a 92 
			 Kent Institute of Art and Design 98 97 
			 King Alfred's College, Winchester 94 94 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 93 93 
			 University of Lincoln 97 97 
			 Liverpool Hope University College 96 96 
			 Liverpool John Moors University 94 95 
			 London Guildhall University 92 95 
			 The London Institute 97 98 
			 University of Luton 99 99 
			 Manchester Metropolitan University 93 94 
			 Middlesex University 96 97 
			 Newman College of Higher Education 97 99 
			 University College Northampton 97 97 
			 University of North London 96 97 
			 North Riding College 97 N/a 
			 Norwich School of Art and Design 100 100 
			 Nottingham Trent University 91 93 
			 University of Plymouth 91 93 
			 University of Portsmouth 92 91 
			 Ravensbourne College 100 99 
			 Rose Bruford College 93 92 
			 College of St. Mark & St. John 94 96 
			 St. Martin's College 96 97 
			 St. Mary's College 92 93 
			 University of Salford 95 94 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 92 94 
			 Southampton Institute 93 94 
			 South Bank University 93 94 
			 Staffordshire University 97 98 
			 University of Sunderland 97 97 
			 The Surrey Institute of Art & Design University College 99 99 
			 University of Surrey Roehampton 92 N/a 
			 University of Teeside 98 98 
			 Thames Valley University 98 98 
			 Trinity & All Saints 93 93 
			 University of Westminster 92 94 
			 Wimbledon School of Art 100 98 
			 University of Wolverhampton 98 99 
			 University College Worcester 96 97 
			 Writtle College N/a 94 
			 York St. John College 95 95 
		
	
	Note:
	N/a = not applicable, i.e. below 90 per cent. for the year in question.
	
		
			  1999 Low participation (percentage) 2000 Low participation (percentage) 
		
		
			 Bolton Institute of Higher Education 26 32 
			 Cumbria Institute of the Arts 22 N/a 
			 Edge Hill College of Higher Education 22 23 
			 Liverpool Hope University College 23 26 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 21 21 
			 Newman College of Higher Education 25 24 
			 Northern School of Contemporary Dance N/a 21 
			 University of Sunderland 29 29 
			 University of Wolverhampton 23 23 
		
	
	Note:
	Not applicable, i.e. not above 20 per cent. for the year in question.
	The figures in the tables are taken from the two most recent versions of "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published annually by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Copies of these publications can be found in the House Library.

Student Loans

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the maximum student loan available for a medical student doing a six year course will be after the introduction of the measures outlined in the Government's White Paper; and what the maximum tuition fees are which such a student will be required to pay.

Margaret Hodge: For English and Welsh domiciled students the maximum means tested loan in 2002–03 is £3,090 for a student residing at their parent's home; and otherwise £3,905, unless for studying in London, where it is £4,815. Eligible medical students from lower income families on a six year course will be entitled to these levels of loan, increased for inflation, for four years. Many will also be entitled to a further Higher Education Grant of £1,000 for four years from October 2004. In year five medical students are entitled to a non means tested reduced rate loan (at 2002–03 prices) of £1,465 if they are living with a parent, £1,915 otherwise, and £2,365 if they are studying in London. In the final year these figures reduce to £1,075, £1,400 and £1,725 respectively. In addition, in years five and six English domiciled medical students may receive non repayable annual means tested bursaries from the Department of Health, or if Welsh domiciled from the Welsh Assembly Government, of up to £1,758 (living with parent), £2,148 (otherwise) or £2,640 (living in London).
	After implementation of the White Paper proposals, the annual fee contribution for four years will vary from £0-£3,000 per year but the upfront cost to students and parents would be reduced from the current maximum of £1,100 since fees would start to be repaid only after graduation (and achievement of an income threshold of £15,000 per year). Students on lower incomes would continue as now to receive a grant for fees of £1,100 (increased annually for inflation) and their loan for fees would not exceed £1,900 a year. In cases where the Access Regulator agrees higher fee levels than £1,100, university bursary schemes will further reduce the cost of fees to some students on low incomes.
	Fee support for English domiciled medical students in years five and six is the responsibility of the Department of Health. Currently students pay no contributions to fees. Department of Health Ministers have indicated that, whatever the future levels of tuition fees, they will take measures to ensure that any increase in the cost of university courses will not have an adverse impact on the supply, retention, diversity or quality of students on health professional courses, including medicine.

Sure Start

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place the technical note underlying Sure Start's Public Service Agreement in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The Technical Note has been published and a copy has been placed in the Libraries.

Teachers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of teachers retire at or before age 60 years; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: Early retirement is available to teachers between the ages of 50 and 59. During 2001–02, 3,450 teachers under the age of 60 who had been employed in the maintained schools sector in England were awarded early payment of retirement benefits. This represents around 3 per cent. of the teaching work force in the 50–59 age range. In addition, 1,760 teachers in the 50–59 age range and 580 teachers aged under 50 were awarded ill-health retirement benefits on the grounds of permanent incapacity.

Teachers

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many teachers (a) left the teaching profession and (b) there have been in (i) Sutton Coldfield and (ii) the UK in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many teacher vacancies there were in Sutton Coldfield in each year since 1997.

David Miliband: Information on teacher numbers and vacancies is collected at local authority level. The table provides information for Birmingham local education authority at January of each year:
	
		
			 Year FTE regular teachers(9) Vacancies(10) 
		
		
			 1997 9,910 32 
			 1998 9,800 37 
			 1999 9,760 73 
			 2000 9,880 63 
			 2001 10,220 83 
			 2002 10,440 202 
		
	
	(9) Full-time equivalent regular teachers in post in the maintained schools sector.
	(10) Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration) in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.
	Note:
	Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis unless filled by someone with a fixed term contract of one term or more.
	Source
	DfES annual 618G survey.
	The following table shows the numbers of teachers leaving full-time
	(11) or part- time
	(12) service in the maintained schools sector in Birmingham and in England. The information is not available at constituency level.
	The devolved Administrations are responsible for providing information on teachers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
	(13) Leavers are those who were in full-time or part-time teaching in the maintained schools sector immediately before the period shown, who were not in service in that sector at the end of the period shown. Teachers leaving are based on pension returns. Some teachers may have moved from known service to service not recorded on the teacher pension return. Some leavers will be taking career breaks and will return to service at a later date.
	(14) Around 10–20 per cent. of part-timers may not be included.
	
		1 April–31March
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 (9) 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 Birmingham 730 850 610 810  
			 (10) 
			 (11)— 
			 England 35,650 39,050 31,910 34,930 35,440 
		
	
	(15) Higher than usual numbers of premature retirements, following changes to the retirement regulations, contributed to the high levels of leavers in 1997–98.
	(16) The most recent data available at LEA level are for 1999–2000.
	(17) Not available
	Source:DfES Database of Teacher Records.

Teaching Assistants

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidelines he has published for the use of teaching assistants to take whole classes without the presence of a qualified teacher; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: My Department recently completed a consultation on developing the role of school support staff, which included proposals for enhancing the role of support staff. These proposals included the development of a 'higher-level teaching assistant' role, for individuals who would have the skills and training to work with whole classes of pupils in the absence of, but under the supervision of, a qualified teacher. We have also recently completed a consultation on draft regulations and guidance under Section 133 of the Education Act 2002. These regulations outline the role of the qualified teacher and set out conditions under which individuals without qualified teacher status can undertake aspects of that role. This area was previously unregulated so the new regulations will strengthen the safeguards in place to protect the quality of pupils' education. My officials are currently considering the responses to the two consultations and the Department will be issuing revised regulations and further guidance in the near future, taking into account the consultation responses and the details set out in the recent National Agreement between the Government, school work force unions and the local government employers.

Truancy

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his plans to provide more powers to welfare officers to curb truancy in schools.

Ivan Lewis: The forthcoming Anti-Social Behaviour Bill will formally enable education welfare officers to ask parents who fail to secure their child's regular attendance at school to sign a parenting contract. This will mean agreeing to co-operate with support arranged by the local authority (typically a parenting course) and taking specified action to improve their child's attendance. Refusal to sign or breach of contract may result in a fixed penalty notice or prosecution.
	The Bill will also enable education welfare officers to issue fixed penalty notices to parents who condone or ignore truancy. Failure to pay the penalty will result in prosecution.
	These new powers will complement existing measures for tackling truancy, including 'fast-track' prosecutions and truancy sweeps.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what soft information is given to (a) employers and (b) employees who have requested an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 10 March 2003
	Enhanced disclosures differ from standard disclosures in that in addition to information about convictions, which is obtained from the Police National Computer, they may also contain information provided by a local police force. Most often, this will be a police force in whose area an applicant has lived for the five years preceding the date of application. This information is commonly referred to as "local information".
	The Police Act 1997, which established the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), sets out when such information should be released. Essentially, a local police force may release local information if it thinks it may be relevant to the position sought. The question of whether information is or may be relevant is solely a matter for the local police force, and over which the CRB has no control.
	Local information can be released in two forms—approved information and additional information. Decisions about the form in which information is released are again solely a matter for the local police force and over which the CRB has no control. The local police force decisions are based upon the nature of the information and the circumstances of particular cases. Approved and additional information have previously been termed 'soft' or 'non-conviction' information respectively.
	Approved information is local police force information released under section 115 (7) of the Police Act and is information that has been approved to be included on an enhanced disclosure. This is printed on both copies of the disclosure, (i.e. which go to the employer and the employee). The applicant will normally be aware of the information already, which might for example be information about an impending prosecution. At present only some three in every 1,000 enhanced disclosures contain approved information.
	Additional information is released under section 115 (8) of the Police Act and is information that has been authorised to be released to the registered body only in the interests of the prevention or detection of crime. This is released in the form of a separate letter sent to the registered body and arrives in a different envelope from the disclosure. The information is not made available to the applicant and does not appear on the disclosure. The disclosure issued to the registered body contains a box on the top right-hand side referring to the letter sent under separate cover. This warns the registered body that they should wait for the letter before reaching a recruitment decision. The information released by the police in these circumstances is highly confidential. Although CRB will know when such letters are released, they do not see the contents and are not sent a copy. At present only some four in every 10,000 enhanced disclosure applications end with the release of additional information.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long applications for Criminal Records Bureau checks will be sent to Madras for processing; what the cost is to his Department of sending those applications; what measures are in place to ensure that forms are securely transferred between the UK and India; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 10 March 2003
	All disclosure applications are processed at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) sites at Liverpool and Darwen, Blackburn. The work being undertaken at, Chennai (Madras) involves manual inputting of personal information such as name, date of birth and addresses during the past five years, provided by individuals on their application forms. This work is undertaken at the beginning of the process, and no information drawn from police sources or other data sources is involved.
	This arrangement was introduced as part of a package of measures to improve the performance of the CRB. It has proved highly effective in enabling large numbers of paper application forms to be processed, with timely, cost effective and accurate data capture, and eliminating backlogs from this critical stage of the CRB process.
	Due to the fact that the CRB is still receiving around 78 per cent. of applications on paper and that the current data entry system works well the CRB will continue to capture the information from hand-written forms in Chennai. When the CRB introduces an electronic application channel this situation will be reviewed. There is no additional cost to this Department in the work being carried out in Chennai for data inputting. The costs are borne entirely by Capita as part of their contractual arrangements with the CRB.
	To ensure the data processed by Hays in India would be secure, senior members of CRB staff have conducted two extensive site inspections. The inspections were carried out in accordance with the Information Commissioners (1C) guidance relating to overseas transfer. On inspection, the site satisfied both the IC's and the CRB stringent requirements for security, data protection and data integrity.
	The data transferred is that contained on the disclosure application form. The form is scanned, encrypted and then transferred via a secure link to the site in Chennai. On receipt of the scanned image, the data are entered on to a system compatible with those used by the CRB to process disclosure applications. On completion the data is again encrypted and transferred back to the United Kingdom via the secure link. Hays only retain the data for the duration of time taken to input and transfer to the United Kingdom. Thereafter, the data are destroyed.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2003, Official Report, columns 911–13W, on the Criminal Records Bureau (Checks), if he will set out for each study the (a) total cost and (b) cost to his Department of (i) the Coopers and Lybrand (1996) market research study; (ii) the Accent Market Research (March 2000) study; (iii) the Labour Force Survey carried out between September and November 1999; (iv) the telephone survey with existing checkers, that was carried out to validate the baseline information; (v) the Capita Account Managers research in December 2001; (vi) the on-going joint Capita CRB forecasting work; (vii) the Rosslyn Research in 2000, to establish employer's requirements in terms of service standards; and (viii) the consultation with registered employers from January to June 2001.

Hilary Benn: The information is as follows:
	(i) the total cost and cost to the Home Office of the Coopers and Lybrand (1996) market research study was £66,422.75, including VAT;
	(ii) the total cost and cost to the Home Office of the Accent Market Research (March 2000) study was £16,293.26, including VAT;
	(iii) the Labour Force Survey is carried out annually by the Department for Work Pensions, and therefore, the Home Office incurred no additional costs;
	(iv) the telephone survey with existing checkers, that was carried out to validate the baseline information, was undertaken by PRA's business planning unit as part of their normal day-to-day duties, and therefore, the Home Office incurred no additional costs;
	(v) the Capita Account Managers research in December 2001 is part of the Account Manager's normal day-to-day duties. Therefore, the Home Office incurred no additional costs;
	(vi) the on-going joint Capita/Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) forecasting work is part of the normal day-to-day duties of these staff, and therefore, the Home Office incurred no additional costs;
	(vii) the total cost and cost to the Home Office of the Rosslyn Research in 2000 to establish employer's requirements in terms of service standards was £5,710.50, including VAT; and
	(viii) the consultation with registered employers from January to June 2001 was a major part of the CRB's publicity campaign to raise awareness of the disclosure service and to encourage registration. The total cost and cost to the Home Office of this publicity campaign was £694,000.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his statement of 27 February 2003, Official Report, columns 32–36WS, on the Criminal Records Bureau, what additional resources he has given to Capita for each (a) standard disclosure and (b) enhanced disclosure following the indefinite postponement of basic disclosures.

Hilary Benn: In his statement, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary said it would be inappropriate to launch basic disclosures until higher priority categories of applicant for higher level disclosures are seeing their needs fully accommodated. The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is concentrating its resources on the standard and enhanced disclosures until the demand for higher level disclosures is fully met and that applicants for such disclosures receive a satisfactory service. Basic disclosures will not be introduced until these objectives have been achieved. In light of the operational difficulties that the CRB has experienced since the launch of the higher level disclosure service, the decision was taken to re-assess the anticipated demand for basic disclosures in conjunction with a review of the business process model. No additional resources have been directed towards Capita for standard and enhanced disclosures, following the decision to postpone the launch of basic disclosures.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2003, Official Report, columns 911–13W, on Criminal Records Bureau (Checks), what assessment he has made of the research into the likely level of demand for Criminal Records Bureau checks undertaken by (a) the Home Office and (b) CRB.

Hilary Benn: The research undertaken enabled a baseline demand figure to be agreed and confirmed and assumptions validated from a number of different sources. An assessment of the research indicates that the baseline figure produced for the first year of operations is reasonably close to actual demand. However, it now seems less certain that much higher levels of forecast future demand will be achieved, although this has yet to be proven.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his statement of 27 February 2003, Official Report, columns 32–36WS, on the Criminal Records Bureau, how many representations his Department received in the consultation exercise with registered bodies and employers from January to June 2001 on the use of paper based application systems; and if he will place copies of these in the Library.

Hilary Benn: During the early part of 2001, as a major part of the Criminal Records Bureau's (CRB's) publicity campaign to raise awareness of the disclosure service and to encourage registration, the CRB held 22 seminars in nine venues throughout England and Wales. In all, over 8,000 organisations were invited to attend, including users of the existing police based arrangements. Around 4,687 delegates attended and the overall satisfaction rating was "very informative". The events proved very successful in raising awareness of the new service with over 3,557 organisations registered from the start. The total cost of this campaign was £694,000. It was during the registration seminars that many organisations with significant stature and strong relevance to the CRB voiced their concerns over the proposed telephone only application channel. The CRB did not carry out a formal paper consultation exercise on this matter.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  pursuant to his statement of 27 February, Official Report, columns 32–36WS, on the Criminal Records Bureau, what estimate he has made of (a) lost revenue and (b) profit to the CRB following indefinite postponement of basic disclosures;
	(2)  pursuant to his statement of 27 February 2003, Official Report, columns 32–36WS, on the Criminal Records Bureau, what estimate he has made of the likely increase in insurance premium increase on registered bodies following recommendation 2 of the Carter Inquiry.

Hilary Benn: Under Her Majesty's Treasury rules the fee level for basic disclosures would have been set at a level to ensure full cost recovery but no surplus. Consequently, this will have no financial effect on the Criminal Records Bureau. The estimate of cost and income for basic disclosures is as follows:
	Financial Year 2003–04: £8.3 million
	Financial Year 2004–05: £36.4 million
	Financial Year 2005–06: £54.6 million

Criminal Records Bureau

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the charge made by Capita for Criminal Records Bureau checks calculated as the charge per disclosure processed when all 1,284,891 applications made so far have been processed, shown as (a) actual charge and (b) theoretical charge before penalty clause terms invoked;
	(2)  pursuant to his answer of 7 February, Official Report, column 475W, on the Criminal Records Bureau, whether the payment of £15,737,771.87 to Capita for Criminal Records Bureau checks represents full and final payment for the disclosures processed so far; and what the full payment made to Capita for work on Criminal Records Bureau checks would have been if penalty clauses had not been invoked.

Hilary Benn: Details of the charges made by Capita for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are commercially sensitive and as such I am unable to divulge this information.
	Payments have been made in line with the terms of the contract with deduction of liquefied damages for delay and failure to meet service standards.

Criminal Records Bureau

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will implement the recommendations of the Carter report into the Criminal Records Bureau in Liverpool.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 7 March 2003
	The Independent Review Team's recommendations will be implemented as soon as practicable. Some can be implemented faster than others. Work has already begun on a pilot to examine the costs and feasibility of placing flags on the Police National Computer and in developing an electronic application channel. We expect to establish the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) as a separate agency later this year.

Feltham Young Offenders Institution

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Commission for Racial Equality's report into Feltham Young Offenders Institution will be published.

Hilary Benn: Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Feltham was one of three establishments examined by the Commission for Racial Equality during its formal investigation into the Prison Service. I am advised by the Commission that they intend to publish a report on the formal investigation into the Prison Service as soon as practicable.

Prisons

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of facilities for prisoners at Ashfield prison; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 10 March 2003
	Since the Prison Service issued a rectification notice to the contractor (Premier Prison Service) on 10 January 2003, service delivery improvements and progress on compliance with the contract have been achieved.
	The delivery of purposeful activity against the contractual requirement of 35 hours per week per trainee is on an upward trend, and close to contract compliance. During February 2003, each trainee received on average 34.56 hours of purposeful activity. A standards audit took place in February 2003, and the establishment was rated as 'acceptable' for both standards and security, with health services, public protection, safer establishments, segregation unit and incentives and earned privileges all rated as good.
	However, there are still concerns about provision in a number of areas. Including the level of assaults, the incidence of self harm, and the use of force in handling incidents.
	Ashfield will continue to be closely monitored, and the Rectification Notice will not be lifted until the establishment is safe, and offering appropriate facilities to the young people held there. The long-term future of Ashfield remains uncertain. Unless these improvements are built on and sustained, the Prison service will consider re-tendering the contract, or bringing Ashfield into the public sector.

Work Permits

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Work Permits UK were consulted by the Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning regarding work permit applications in respect of pole dancers; whether Work Permits UK make a distinction between applications for (a) pole dancers and (b) lap dancers; and whether an application for pole dancers should be treated on the basis of an entertainment application.

Beverley Hughes: Work Permits (UK) was not consulted by the Department of Education and Learning on the issue of permits for pole dancers. Work Permits (UK) does not issue work permits for overseas nationals to work as pole dancers.
	All work permit applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the work permit criteria. In order to qualify for a work permit under the business and commercial arrangements the job is expected to require an individual to have either a UK equivalent degree level qualification, a Higher National Diploma (HND) level qualification which is relevant to the post on offer, a HMD level qualification, which is not relevant to the post on offer plus one year of relevant work experience or three years experience of using specialist skills acquired through doing the type of job for which the permit is sought. This should be at National/Scottish Vocational Qualification level 3 or above.
	In order to qualify for work permit under the arrangements for entertainers the individual must have performed at the highest level and have established a reputation in their profession or be engaged to perform or do work which only they can do.
	An application for a pole dancer or lap dancer would not qualify under either of the above categories, and would be refused on the grounds that the skills criteria had not been met.

Work Permits

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether work permits can be issued to individuals who have entered the UK illegally.

Beverley Hughes: Illegal immigrants cannot apply for work permits, and it is an offence knowingly to employ an illegal entrant to the United Kingdom. Where an employer applies for a work permit for an overseas national who is already in the United Kingdom, Work Permits (UK) will first consider whether the application meets the criteria of the work permit arrangements before considering whether, under the Immigration Rules, the overseas national may be granted leave to remain for the purpose of work permit employment. Under the Immigration Rules, only those who were admitted to the United Kingdom as a work permit holder, as a student or student nurse or as a postgraduate doctor or dentist may be granted an extension of stay for the purpose of work permit employment. Granting such leave in any other circumstance can only be considered on a discretionary basis. Such discretion will not normally be exercised where the overseas national has had an adverse Immigration history.

Young Prisoners

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that social services are fulfilling their responsibilities for looking after children who go into prison.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 3 March 2003
	I have been asked to reply.
	Councils with social services responsibilities have a duty, under the Children Act 1989, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area. This includes children who are in prison service establishments, subject to the requirements of their imprisonment.
	The Department of Health is currently working with the Home Office, the Prison Service, the Youth Justice Board and the Association of Directors of Social Services to consider the implications of Justice Munby's judgment in the recent judicial review brought by the Howard League and Recommendation 2.8 of the Joint Chief Inspectors' report "Safeguarding Children". I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, Home Department on 5 March 2003, Official Report, columns 1104–05W. This consideration will include the possible need for further guidance.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Public Appointments

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women if she will list the initiatives she has organised in each of the last three years to attract more women into public appointments and their cost; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: During 2000–02 we introduced two electronic databases, the first to create a pool of good quality potential applicants, focusing particularly on women, members of ethnic minority groups and those with disabilities, and the second to allow more effective monitoring of those currently holding appointments. The total cost of the system, of which the databases form a part, was £600,000.
	All DTI Directorates were required to draw up and maintain equal opportunities plans for their public bodies spelling out how they intended to achieve their overall goals. We also evaluated all appointments procedures that produced good results in terms of equal opportunities to identify best practice and disseminated the results to other appointments teams. No additional costs were incurred.
	During 2002, along with my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche), I led a National Outreach Programme to increase the numbers of women applying for public appointments. The cost was £575,551 (excluding VAT).
	On 11 December 2002 we launched a practical informative guide to help more women find out about public appointments, and encourage more women to apply for them. The cost of this was £4 a pack. Approximately 2,600 packs have been distributed.
	During 2002 we actively sought women candidates for appointment to the Boards of the Regional Development Agencies. Members of the appointments team took part in the National Outreach Programme and the Regional Offices issued promotional material specifically directed at women candidates. The cost of this was approximately £5,000.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Education (Deprived Areas)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to improve educational standards in deprived areas of Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: It is my objective that all children, irrespective of their backgrounds and circumstances, have the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential and are properly prepared for the transition to adult life. The Department's new Targeting Social Need action plan contains a wide range of actions and targets aimed at tackling low educational achievement, low personal and social skills and poor employability among disadvantaged children and young people.

Decommissioning

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the decommissioning of arms held by the IRA.

Jane Kennedy: To date the Provisional IRA has been involved in two acts of decommissioning. The arms and material in question have been dealt with in accordance with the decommissioning scheme and regulations.
	However, it is regrettable that PIRA, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando have all suspended contact with the IICD. I would urge all paramilitary organisations to re-engage with the Commission, as it is imperative that both republican and loyalist organisations complete the transition to exclusively peaceful means, real, total and permanent.

Decommissioning

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the extent of verifiable decommissioning of unlawfully held weaponry.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Sir Nicholas Winterton).

Decommissioning

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the state of IRA decommissioning.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant).

Decommissioning

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the quantities of illegally held (a) weapons and (b) explosives that have been decommissioned under the Good Friday Agreement.

Jane Kennedy: On 18 December 1998 the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported that a quantity of arms belonging to the LVF were decommissioned.
	On 23 October 2001 they reported that they had witnessed an event that they regarded as significant in which the Provisional IRA had put a quantity of arms completely beyond use. The material included arms, ammunition and explosives.
	On 8 April 2002 the IICD reported the Provisional IRA had put a varied and substantial quantity of ammunition, arms and explosive material beyond use. An inventory of the arms will be provided to the British and Irish Governments when the Commission's task is completed.
	The arms and material in question have been dealt with in accordance with the decommissioning scheme and regulations. It is imperative that both republican and loyalist organisations complete the transition to exclusively peaceful means, real, total and permanent.

Devolved Institutions

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on his most recent discussions in respect of the restoration of devolution in Northern Ireland.

Paul Murphy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Sports Funding

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals in Northern Ireland are in receipt of funding to help them prepare for the next two Olympic Games.

Angela Smith: Eighteen athletes are in receipt of funding that will assist in their preparation for the Olympic Games in 2004. These are:
	Athletics: 3
	Equestrian: 2
	Swimming: 2
	Ladies hockey: 11
	Figures are not available in respect of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Peace Process

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress towards acts of completion.

Paul Murphy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Blue Card Emergency Payments

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time for assessment and treatment of blue card emergency patients was in Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available.

Des Browne: All Blue Card emergency patients have already been assessed within the Neurosurgery specialty. The Blue Card system is a method of prioritising the most urgent Neurosurgery patients. Figures are not available for the length of time between assessment and treatment. Patients on the Blue Card list are treated as soon as a bed becomes available.
	At the end of December 2002 there were 302 persons waiting for their first outpatient appointment the Neurosurgery specialty. More than half of all persons waiting for their first outpatient appointment had been waiting less than three months.
	The number of persons waiting in the Neurosurgery specialty for inpatient admission was 733. More than half of these were waiting in excess of 18 months.

Departmental Annual Report

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much producing his Department's latest annual report cost; how many copies were printed; how many copies of it were sold at its cover price; to whom copies of the report have been provided free of charge; and how many copies were provided free of charge.

Paul Murphy: The Northern Ireland Office Departmental Report 2002 was produced by The Stationery Office (TSO). Costs of printing and publication are met directly by TSO and do not fall to Government. My Department was invoiced only for the 200 copies it requested.
	600 copies were printed and TSO's records show that 382 copies have been sold at its cover price of £25. Copies of the Report were provided free of charge to 156 interested parties. A table of those interested parties follows.
	
		Distribution of the NIO departmental report 2002
		
			 Recipient Number of copies 
		
		
			 Secretary of State, Ministers, Senior NIO Officials 18 
			 Heads of NIO Agencies and Legal Offices 5 
			 Parliament House of Commons Library 12 
			 NIO Information Offices Belfast and London 9 
			 HM Treasury 3 
			 First Minister, Deputy First Minister, NI Assembly and OFM/DFM 25 
			 Scottish and Welsh Offices 2 
			 Head of NICS & NI Permanent Secretaries 11 
			 NI MP's 18 
			 Other interested MP's 3 
			 1MEP 1 
			 Members of the House of Lords with an interest in NI 25 
			 Treasury Select Committee 14 
			 NI Select Committee 14 
			 TOTAL 156 
		
	
	In the Northern Ireland Administration five departments to date have produced Annual Reports or Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 2001–02. Details of the cost of producing these reports could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. A total of 4,050 copies have been printed, of which 656 have been sold at their cover price and approximately 2,000 copies have been provided free of charge to a range of bodies.

Neurosurgery

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many nurses have been recruited to work in neurosurgery in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Des Browne: The Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust is the only trust in Northern Ireland that employs nurses to work in neurosurgery. The figures are detailed in the table:
	
		Number of nurses (including bank(18) staff) recruited to work in neurosurgery in Northern Ireland between 1997 and 2002
		
			 Year Non-bank/headcount Non-bank WTE(19) Bank headcount 
		
		
			 1997 4 2.86 3 
			 1998 2 2.00 0 
			 1999 1 0.64 2 
			 2000 5 4.84 5 
			 2001 7 6.36 1 
			 2002 5 4.25 1 
		
	
	(18) Bank staff cover for staffing shortfalls and fluctuating work loads in order to maintain service delivery
	(19) Whole time equivalent

Neurosurgery

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the waiting list for neurosurgery is at the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast.

Des Browne: The latest figures available (end of December 2002) indicate that there are 733 in-patients awaiting admission in the neurosurgery specialty. A further 302 out-patients are waiting for a first appointment.

Treatment Referrals

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people from Northern Ireland have been referred for treatment in hospital in (a) the Irish Republic, (b) Scotland, (c) England and (d) Wales in each year since 1997.

Des Browne: Details of the number of people from Northern Ireland who have been referred for treatment in hospitals in the Irish Republic, Scotland, England and Wales in each year since 2000–01 are given in the following table. Data before 2000–01 could not be obtained from all Health Boards.
	
		(a)-(d) Number of patients from Northern Ireland referred for treatment outside Northern Ireland, between 2000–01 and March 2003 
		
			 Year Republic of Ireland Scotland England Wales GB (if regional breakdown not available) Total 
		
		
			 2000–01 125 140 822 1 143 1,231 
			 2001–02 29 211 873 0 21 1,134 
			 2002-March 2003 186 101 791 0 27 1,105 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data shown includes extra contractual referrals, out of area treatments and transfers as part of waiting list initiatives.
	2. Northern Health and Social Services Board were unable to provide out of area treatment figures for 2001–02 or 2002–03 to date, as the UK NHS providers have not given details of NHSSB patients treated under out of area treatments since 2000–01.
	3. Western Health and Social Services Board provided data on extra contractual referrals and transfers due to waiting list initiatives for all years, however they were unable to provide out of area treatment figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 to date.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Welsh Language

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Government provided to support the production of television programmes in the Welsh language in (a) 1997 and (b) 2002.

Kim Howells: The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, S4C, received grant in aid of £72.223 million in 1997 and £81.468 million in 2002, under its statutory funding formula. Under the provisions of the Broadcasting Act 1990 the authority also receives programmes provided by the BBC free of charge. These were valued at £16.7 million in the financial year 1997–98 and £16.4 million in 2001–02.

Administrative Costs

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the administrative costs were for the (a) Designated Museums Challenge Fund grants, (b) Wolfson Public Libraries Fund grants and (c) Spaces for Sport and Art grants in the last financial year.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 3 December 2002, Official Report, columns 782–83W, which stated that the administration of the specified grant programmes is carried out by a number of different units within the department and relevant NDPBs, to which a range of staff make a contribution. It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of these costs centrally.

Deaf People (Television Programmes)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on promoting television programmes for the deaf; and how much money the Government gave to support television programmes for (a) deaf people and (b) people with a disability in each year since 1997.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 March 2003
	The Government have not provided funding to support television programmes for disabled people. The Government's role is to set the legislative framework within which subtitling and other services for people with disabilities can be provided.
	The Broadcasting Act 1996 requires the ITC to draw up a code promoting the understanding and enjoyment of programmes by viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing and blind or partially sighted. The Act also set targets for subtitling, signing and audio description services on digital terrestrial television (DTT).
	The Communications Bill will transfer the ITC's responsibilities to the new regulator, Ofcom, and will extend the requirements on DTT services to digital cable and digital satellite services.

Departmental Telephone Directory

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the most recent internal telephone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if she will place a copy in the Library.

Kim Howells: The internal telephone directory in DCMS was last updated on 6 March 2003. The directory will be updated whenever there are changes that need to be recorded and is usually updated daily. A copy of the directory from 6 March 2003 has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Film Industry

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on Government support for the UK film industry since 1997.

Kim Howells: Following the film policy review in 1998, my Department established the Film Council in April 2000 as the Government's strategic lead body. The creation of the Film Council brought together, for the first time, responsibility for the film industry, film culture and education.
	The Film Council uses grant-in-aid and money from the national lottery to support film-making and development, training, education and film culture. Film production is also supported by tax relief for British qualifying films under section 48 of the Finance (No 2) Act, which was introduced in 1997.
	My Department also sponsors the National Film and Television School, which is a leading international centre for professional training in the film and television industries.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Administrative Costs

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the administrative costs were of the (a) Social Science Research Fund, (b) Financial Deepening Challenge Fund, (c) Development Awareness Fund, (d) Education Research Programme, (e) Asia Regional Poverty Fund, (f) Tourism Challenge Fund, (g) Civil Society Challenge Fund, (h) Renewable Natural Resources Knowledge Strategy Fund, (i) Engineering Knowledge and Research Programme, (j) Business Linkage Challenge Fund and (k) Enterprise Development Innovation Fund in the last financial year.

Clare Short: DFID's expenditure on administration costs in 2002–03 is projected to be £101.8 million or 4 per cent. of the departmental budget. All the interventions listed are administered by DFID effectively and cost-effectively.

Conservation Group

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she intends to hold the next meeting of the Inter-Departmental Consultative Group on Conservation.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	There is no formally constituted group with this title but officials of all the relevant Government Departments are in very regular contact on a wide range of conservation issues.

Departmental Telephone Directory

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when the most recent internal telephone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if she will place a copy in the Library.

Clare Short: DFID does not produce a published copy of its internal phone directory. The information is now held electronically on our internal systems.
	For general information on contact points within DFID you will find details of our Public Enquiry Point (which is the initial contact point for information on the work of the Department), plus an organisational diagram and list of DFID offices outside the UK on the "Contact Us" link on the homepage of DFID's website (www.dfid.gov.uk).

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will allocate financial resources to limit the effect on Iraqi civilians of the use by Iraq of (a) chemical and (b) biological weapons in the event of war.

Clare Short: The risk that Iraqi forces may deploy chemical or biological weapons is a very grave one. Advice from the Department of Health and Ministry of Defence is that, given the unpredictable range of weapons that Saddam might use, only sophisticated protective suits and training would provide adequate protection to the threat. It is not possible for my Department to provide this training and protection to large numbers of Iraqi people.
	In terms of response to any use of chemical or biological weapons, only highly skilled and well-equipped parts of the military or specialised agencies, who have been trained for such environments and on the use of protective suits, would have the capacity to operate. My Department is in continuing discussions with the Ministry of Defence about the provision of humanitarian response under a range of eventualities. DFID has a contingency reserve on which we are ready to draw for any emergency situation in Iraq.

Iraq

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to maintain food security in Iraq during any military action taken by the UK and allies.

Clare Short: 60 per cent. of the Iraqi people are totally dependent on the UN Oil For Food Programme for essential supplies, including food. We are working to try to minimise the impact of any military action on this programme and, in the event of disruption to it, to helping re-establishing it as quickly as possible. We are also drawing up contingency plans to support the provision of relief by those best placed to do so, to cover any period during which the programme would not be able to function. We have so far committed £10 million to support contingency planning by UN agencies and NGOs, which includes some prepositioning of supplies. There might be a phase when only military forces are fully able to operate in Iraq and thus would have primary responsibility for the initial delivery of humanitarian relief. My Department has been advising the Ministry of Defence on these issues for some time.

Sudan

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid the UK has given to Sudan in the last 12 months.

Clare Short: The UK has pledged £14 million of aid and development assistance to Sudan in the last 12 months.

PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what steps the Government has taken to implement UN Resolution 57/232 to provide for human rights monitors in Iraq.

Tony Blair: The UK helped to draft and sponsored this resolution, which condemns the appalling human rights situation in Iraq. Together with international partners, the UK takes every opportunity to raise the human rights situation in Iraq. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's report on Iraq's human rights violations, published on 2 December 2002, exposes the sheer brutality of the Iraqi regime.
	The Iraqi Government has refused to allow human rights monitors to be stationed in Iraq. For the 10 years prior to February 2002 it would not even allow the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights access to Iraq.

Iraq

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with President Bush on the means by which it is intended to ascertain whether, in the event of war with Iraq, all weapons of mass destruction on Iraqi soil at the start of the conflict have been destroyed or captured intact; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: The primary objective of UNSCR 1441 is the disarmament of Iraq. No decision has been taken to launch military action against Iraq.
	I regularly discuss all aspects of Iraq policy with other Governments, including the US Government. These discussions have included the issue of the continuation of the disarmament of Iraq.

Laptop Computers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Prime Minister how many laptop computers were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his office in each year since 1995; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; what their cost was; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 11 March 2003.

Saudi Arabia

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations he has made to the Saudi Government on behalf of the British citizens imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for alleged terrorist offences; whether he has sought the support of the United States Government on this matter; and what response he has received from the Saudi Government.

Tony Blair: I have raised the cases of the British men detained in Saudi Arabia at the highest levels with the Saudi authorities. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other ministerial colleagues have also raised these cases. The men's welfare is our paramount concern. We continue to work hard to resolve the cases and are in close contact with the Saudi authorities and the men's lawyers.

United States

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister when he last discussed with President Bush the impact of the US administration's policies on (a) trade, (b) agriculture and (c) drug prices, on Third World countries; and what response he received.

Tony Blair: Both I and my Cabinet colleagues are engaged in a continuing dialogue with President Bush and the US Administration on a wide range of topics. The UK and the US are aiming for a WTO Round focused on increasing trade access, for developing as well as developed countries, in goods, services and particularly agriculture. Both Governments are also engaged in discussions in the WTO, G8 and other forums to ensure increased access to medicines, including lower and sustainable drug prices, for the developing world.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

High Hedges Bill

Mike Wood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government's policy is on the High Hedges Bill introduced by the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound).

Tony McNulty: The Government are committed to a legislative solution to the widespread problems caused by overgrown garden hedges and welcome the High Hedges (No. 2) Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound). The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working with my hon. Friend to try to ensure that fair and workable measures get on to the statute book.

Affordable Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many affordable housing units he estimates will be built in 2003–04 by (a) debt-free authorities with transitional local authority social housing class grant (LASHG) funding and (b) with-debt authorities with LASHG funding;
	(2)  what information his Department has collated on the number of new affordable housing units which were due to be built with funding by local authority social housing grant in 2003–04.

Tony McNulty: In my statement of 5 February 2003 I outlined transitional arrangements for local authority social housing grant (LASHG). The number of affordable homes to be built in 2003–04 from LASHG transitional funding will not be known until after 30 June 2003, which is the deadline for both with-debt and debt-free authorities to submit new schemes for 2003–04 to the Housing Corporation.

Area-based Initiatives

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list area based initiatives operating in the South West Region, and the (a) annual budget and (b) regional budget for each in each year since 2000.

Barbara Roche: The table provides details of area-based initiatives in the region that are the responsibility of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
	
		
			 Initiative South West Region 2000–01 Total annual Budget 2000–01 South West Region 2001–02 Total annual Budget 2001–02 South West Region 2002–03 Total annual Budget 2002–03 
		
		
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Not established Not established £4.059520 million £200 million £6.089281million £300 million 
			 Wardens Schemes £0.01 million £1.2 million £0.490 million £7.7 million £1.116 million £19.3 million 
			 Neighbourhood Management Pilots Not established Not established £0.4 million £4 million £1.075544 million £11. 1 million 
			 New Deal For Communities £2.6 million £48.8 million £6.1 million £126 million £7.6 million £170.9 million 
			 Community Empowerment Fund Not established Not established £0.465082 million £12 million £0.465082 million £12 million 
			 Community Chest Not established Not established £0.313894 million £10 million £0.470842 million £15 million 
			 Community Learning Chest Not established Not established Not established Not established £0.125558 million £4 million 
			 Coalfields £0.091 million £43 million £0.089 million £30.8 million £0.995 million £41 million 
			 Single Regeneration Budget(20) £23.7 million £94.2 million £26.7 million £872.8 million £22.3 n/a 
			 European Structural Fund Objective One(21) 183,812 million Euro 1,155,893 million Euro 178,967 million Euro 1,134,178 million Euro 174,643 million Euro 1,120,629 million Euro 
			 European Structural Fund Objective Two 67,615 million Euro 1,384,436 million Euro 67,373 million Euro 1,372,080 million Euro 66,993 million Euro 1, 358,323 million Euro 
		
	
	(20) From April 2002 the Single Regeneration Budget was incorporated into the Regional Development Agency Single Pot.
	(21) The European Structural Fund Objective One and Two are budgeted on the calendar year from January to December.

Best Value

Francis Maude: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the costs to local government of administration of the best value system.

Nick Raynsford: No reliable estimates exist of the costs incurred by local government of administering best value. Any such costs would have to be set against the benefits of improved services. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has commissioned Cardiff Business School to evaluate the long-term impact of best value in English local authorities from 2001 until 2005. The results arising from the first year's census of local authorities reveal that best value is seen as a positive force for change in local government.

Compulsory Purchase

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he plans to take to increase the use of compulsory purchase orders in respect of empty properties.

Tony McNulty: The use of compulsory purchase orders in respect of empty properties is a matter for local authorities to determine.
	As announced by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister in "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future", the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be consulting on proposals that would provide local authorities with the alternative option of taking on the temporary management of some empty homes.

Decent Home Standards

Debra Shipley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the cost to local authorities if the Decent Home Standards in operation in England adopted a minimum standard of loft insulation of 200mm.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates that it would cost between £500 and £600 million (at 2001 prices) to provide 200 mm loft insulation for all council homes with less than 200 mm loft insulation. The data for this estimate are taken from the 2001 English House Condition Survey.

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures registered social landlords are taking to tackle domestic violence.

Tony McNulty: Registered social landlords can apply for Housing Corporation funding to provide housing for people fleeing domestic violence. Bids for funds must meet local and regional priorities for housing. Revenue support for these schemes is currently available from the supported housing management grant administered by the Housing Corporation. From April 2003 this becomes part of the Supporting People budget administered by local authorities.
	Both local authorities and registered social landlords are encouraged in the Relationship Breakdown Guidance* to have clauses against domestic violence in their tenancy agreements. Increased safety measures and effective multi-agency working with the police are suggested as alternatives. Where a victim of domestic violence is a tenant of a local authority or registered social landlord it is possible for that person to be transferred to alternative accommodation via a management transfer, although there may be issues of tenancy rights to resolve. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is keen to improve the opportunities for mobility for all social tenants, particularly from high pressure areas to those where the demand for social rented accommodation is less. People who experience domestic violence could benefit from the opportunities for mobility for all social tenants.
	* DETR (now ODPM), Cabinet Office and Department of Health: "Relationship Breakdown: A Guide for Social Landlords", May 1999.

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what information on the number of refuges for survivors of domestic violence that have been taken into direct management by registered social landlords was collected in his Supporting People mapping exercise.

Tony McNulty: This information was not collected by the Supporting People supply mapping exercise.
	The supply mapping did show that in December 2002 there were 82 refuges where the support provider was a registered social landlord. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any earlier information about the numbers of refuges where the support provider was a registered social landlord with which to determine whether these arrangements have become more common.

Housing

Mike Wood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to extend the programme of new house building planned for the south-east to other areas of the UK where social housing is scarce and in high demand.

Tony McNulty: All regions will benefit from increased resources for affordable housing. From 2004–05 these resources will be put together with housing investment programme funding to form single regional housing pots. The precise split of resources in each region between affordable housing and other local authority housing investment for 2004–05 and 2005–06 will be made in the light of recommendations from the new regional housing boards.

Housing

Phil Sawford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he commissioned Roger Tym and Partners to carry out a study of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands.

Tony McNulty: Roger Tym and Partners were commissioned to carry out a study of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands area in July 2001, after public tender.

Housing

Phil Sawford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what meetings he has had with (a) the Government Office for the East Midlands, (b) the East Midlands Regional Assembly, (c) the East Midlands Region Local Government Association, (d) Northamptonshire County Council, (e) Kettering Borough Council, (f) hon. Members from Northamptonshire, (g) Daventry District Council and (h) the East Midlands Regional Development Agency to discuss Sustainable Communities in the East Midlands; and who (i) was invited and (ii) attended.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister met Mr. Derek Mapp, Chairman of East Midlands Development Agency, and Mr. Mick Young, Chairman of the East Midlands Regional Assembly and Leader of Northamptonshire County Council, on 16 January 2003 in Milton Keynes, in advance of the publication of "Sustainable Communities, Building For the Future". Also present were the Leaders of Bedfordshire County and Milton Keynes Unitary Authorities, the Chair of the South East of England Development Agency, the Chief Executive of the Housing Corporation and the Chair of English Partnerships.
	In addition, my right hon. Friend Lord Rooker met a group of members and officers of the regional planning bodies for the East Midlands, East of England and South East on 10 October 2002, shortly after the publication of the advisory report "Milton Keynes and South Midlands Study".

Housing

Phil Sawford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to receive a report from the Shadow Regional Housing Body on housing priorities for the East Midlands; what the status is of the Shadow Regional Housing Body; which organisations and individuals are represented on the Shadow Regional Housing Body; and what public consultation will be undertaken by the Shadow Regional Housing Body prior to the formulation of the Regional Housing Strategy.

Tony McNulty: The Regional Housing Board has been set up in response to the "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future" report published on 5 February, and it will submit an outline Housing Strategy to Ministers, including recommendations on housing allocations for 2004–05 and 2005–06, by the end of July 2003. The Regional Housing Board is currently made up of the Regional Director of the Government Office East Midlands, and senior representatives from the Housing Corporation, East Midlands Development Agency, Regional Assembly and English Partnerships in accordance with the "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future" report. The Regional Housing Board will consult the Regional Assembly's Housing Reference Group on draft issues and priorities before preparing the outline Housing Strategy. This will be followed by an opportunity for written representations.

Housing

Phil Sawford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he appointed the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at Birmingham University to undertake a study of housing demand and supply in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands area; what the timescale is for this study; and which local authorities and other bodies will be consulted as part of the study.

Tony McNulty: The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS) was not appointed by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, but by the East Midlands (Shadow) Regional Housing Board on 19 December 2002. CURS were selected following a formal tender process, to produce a source material report for the East Midlands Regional Housing Strategy by 28 March 2003, which will cover the whole region. CURS are using a wider range of reference material to produce the report including Local Authority Housing Strategies, and are consulting the Government Office for the East Midlands, Housing Corporation and East Midlands Development Agency. In addition, before completing the report, CURS will meet with the East Midlands Regional Housing Strategy sub-groups, which include Local Authority representation, and talk to the Regional Assembly's Housing Task Group.

Housing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of bringing housing in (a) Pendle and (b) Burnley up to standard.

Tony McNulty: Pendle reported in their 2001–02 Housing Revenue Account Business Plans that they need to spend about £5.5 million on outstanding capital works to their 3,942 council dwellings (including renovation, demolition and conversion). This includes about £1 million needed to make all their currently non-decent dwellings decent. In addition there may be works arising in the future that also need to be undertaken.
	Burnley transferred all their 5,330 council dwellings in March 2000 to a Registered Social Landlord (RSL). At that time they planned to spend about £22 million on their stock over 30 years for improvement and maintenance.

Housing

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what consultation was undertaken with (a) representatives of local authorities and (b) the 42 local authorities named in the announcement to recent changes to the right to buy scheme.

Tony McNulty: No consultation was undertaken. The data used to identify the 42 local authorities named in the announcement on 22 January were obtained from statistical surveys of local authority housing departments routinely conducted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and from the Land Registry.

Housing

Bridget Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on whether there should be one tenancy for all housing groups, the terms of which should comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

Tony McNulty: In March 2001 the then Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of housing tenure law. The Commission are looking at the possibility of a single form of tenure for the social housing sector and in recognising the importance of the review, they have considered compliance with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.
	The Law Commission is due to make their recommendations on this issue in the summer of 2003 and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will then consider how to take forward the Commission's recommendations and the results of their consultations.

Housing

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 4 February 2003, Official Report, column 234W, under what criteria the pressure on local housing markets was measured in the local authority areas mentioned by him in his statement of 22 January.

Tony McNulty: The 42 areas listed in the Deputy Prime Minister's statement of 22 January are those that appear to be under the greatest housing market pressure, as evidenced by a high incidence of homelessness and high local house prices. The sources of the homelessness data were statistical surveys of local authority housing departments, routinely conducted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister:
	"2001/02 Housing Investment Programme Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix"
	"Quarterly Housing Activity Return (PIE)".
	The data are available on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, at http://www.housing. odpm.gov.uk/local/hipoi/index.htm.
	House price data were obtained from the Land Registry.

Local Government Finance

Alan Beith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will issue guidance to rural authorities about council tax relief for service personnel on duty in Afghanistan and the Gulf.

Christopher Leslie: Service personnel are liable for council tax in the same way as any other person who works abroad and who has the intention of returning to their home. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to issue any guidance to local authorities concerning service personnel and council tax liability.

Logos

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures his Department (a) has put in place and (b) plans to put in place to stop (i) forgeries and (ii) breach of copyright of logos of local authorities on proofs of identity.

Christopher Leslie: Within the statutory framework for copyright, design and patents, protection of copyright of local authority logos is a matter for local authorities themselves.

Logos

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases of (a) misuse, (b) forgery and (c) breach of copyright of logos of local authorities on proofs of identity have (i) occurred and (ii) been successfully prosecuted in the last three years.

Christopher Leslie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Parish Councils

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the difference in guidance between England and Wales issued in connection with the Parish Council Code of Conduct.

Christopher Leslie: Guidance to parish councils in England in connection with the code of conduct laid before Parliament in November 2001 by the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, has been issued by the Standards Board for England. Responsibility for guidance to community councils in Wales in connection with the code issued by the National Assembly for Wales in July 2001 rests with the Commission for Local Administration in Wales.

Private Housing (Improvement Loans)

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he plans to take to enable all local authorities to offer loans for private sector housing improvements.

Tony McNulty: The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance)(England and Wales) Order 2002 gave local authorities new powers to provide a wide range of assistance for private sector housing improvements, including loans. Before using this new power authorities are required to adopt and publish a policy setting out how they intend to use the powers.
	Local authorities currently spend about £300 million per annum on private sector housing renewal. The Sustainable Communities Plan announced that we have made available an extra £30 million in both 2004–05 and 2005–06 to help authorities support new ways to fund repairs and improvements to the homes of low income/vulnerable homeowners/tenants. This will form part of the single regional housing pot. A further announcement will be made shortly about the detailed allocation procedures for this additional funding.

Public Service Agreements

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many PSA targets there are for Sedgmoor District Council.

Nick Raynsford: There are no Local PSA targets directly negotiated with Sedgmoor District Council. However, Sedgmoor District Council, with the four other District Councils in Somerset, are involved in the negotiations currently taking place between the Government and Somerset County Council on their Local PSA.

Regional Assemblies

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to register English regional assemblies as limited companies.

Nick Raynsford: None. Elected regional assemblies in England will be established as bodies corporate by the legislation the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will bring forward after at least one region has voted in a referendum to have one. They will have power to form companies for the purposes of carrying out their functions if they see fit to do so.
	Many of the existing regional chambers (who now all style themselves assemblies) are already or are considering registering as limited companies.

Regional Government

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what Government funding each regional chamber has been granted in each financial year since 2000–01.

Nick Raynsford: No funding was given in 2000–01. The Government announced in March 2001 that it would make £15 million available over the following three years for Regional Chambers funding. In 2001–02, each of the eight Regional Chambers was given a budget of £500,000 to draw down, to enable them to fulfil their role scrutinising Regional Development Agencies and for other regional co-ordination and strategic development work. A further £l million was assigned to the English Regions Network, the umbrella organisation for the Chambers, to fund projects of general interest. In 2002–03, the amount available to each Chamber was increased to £600,000, with the ERN allocation reduced accordingly. This will be repeated in 2003–04. The grant to the Chambers and to ERN is made on the basis of an agreed business plan.

Regional Planning Guidance

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to make an announcement on the regional planning guidance for the North West; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: It is anticipated that an announcement concerning the publication of Regional Planning Guidance for the North West (RPG13) will be made in March 2003.

Social Housing

Paul Burstow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of rent restructuring on tenants' rents in social and supported housing in inner city wards, where there has been high house price inflation.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect social housing rents data at ward level. Therefore no such assessment has been made. However, at a national average level, local authority and housing association rents are expected to go up over the 10 year rent restructuring period much more slowly than over the preceding 10 years. 30 per cent. of the Government's national rents formula is based on January 1999 relative property values, with the remaining 70 per cent. taking account of local earnings for affordability. The formula rent is therefore not affected by house price inflation since January 1999. In addition, absolute caps on formula rents, and limits on individual rent rises were introduced in autumn 2001 to address the concerns that formula rents would otherwise cause affordability problems for a small number of tenants. The housing benefit system forms an additional safeguard for those on the lowest incomes.

Social Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many properties were built with funding from local authority social housing grant (LASHG) in each Government office region in each year since 1996–97; how many new properties were built with LASHG funding in each local authority in London in each year since 1996–97; and what each London local authority spent on LASHG in each year since 1996–97.

Tony McNulty: Information about properties built with funding from Local Authority Social Housing Grant since 1996–97 by region and in each local authority in London is being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Standards Board

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many complaints have been received by the Standards Board for England since May 2002; and of these, how many (a) have so far proceeded to investigation stage, (b) were upheld and (c) are outstanding.

Nick Raynsford: Between May 2002 and December 2002 (the latest date for which full figures are available) the Standards Board for England received 1,985 allegations of councillor misconduct.
	Of those 1,985 allegations, (a) 695 were referred for investigation; (b) 41 have led to a referral to the Adjudication Panel for England 1 ; (c) 160 are awaiting consideration by the Standards Board as to whether to refer the case for investigation and 506 are under investigation.
	1 On 16 January the Adjudication Panel heard the first case referred by an Ethical Standards Officer. The Panel concluded that the code had been breached, and the Councillor concerned was suspended for one year from being a member of his authority.

Standards Board

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average length has been of an investigation by the Standards Board for England since 2002.

Nick Raynsford: The average length of an investigation completed by the Standards Board during 2002 to the present date, from referral of an allegation from the board to ESO final finding, is four months.

Standards Board

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budget is for the Standards Board for England in 2002–03; and what the average cost is of an investigation by the Standards Board for England.

Nick Raynsford: The Standards Board for England's budget for 2002–03, as set out in the Board's Corporate Plan (which is available in the Library of the House) is £7.9 million.
	A figure for the average cost of an investigation is not yet available.

Starter Home Initiative

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) teachers, (b) police officers, (c) nurses and health workers and (d) others have been assisted through the Starter Home Initiative in each (i) local authority area and (ii) Government office of the region it operates in each year of the initiative.

Tony McNulty: As at 31 January 2003, some 2,000 key workers had purchased with Starter Home Initiative assistance homes that otherwise they would have been unable to afford. The information has been placed in the Library.

Supporting People Scheme

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he is taking to ensure children's support services in refuges are retained under the Supporting People initiative.

Tony McNulty: The Supporting People programme will continue to pay for services that are currently paid for from the legacy funding streams that will go into the Supporting People pot. Children's services are not currently funded in this way, and Supporting People Grant would therefore generally not be used for these services.
	Some children's services within refuges may, however, also provide housing-related support for mothers, and these services are likely to be funded under the Supporting People programme. For example, the provision of housing related support within children's services may include supporting women with parenting to ensure children settle in the refuge.
	Support which predominantly involves direct individual and group support work with children is not fundable under Supporting People. It is therefore important that clear links are established between Supporting People Strategies and local Children's Services Plans and that relevant Social Care and Health workers are aware of the support needs of children living in households vulnerable to domestic violence. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will shortly be issuing guidance to local authorities on preparing their five-year strategies, and this will emphasise the importance of making these strategic links to ensuring that service users' needs are properly met.

Sustainable Communities

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will define the term key worker as used in "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future".

Tony McNulty: For the purposes of "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future", the Government has targeted key workers in the public sector. Wider housing policies to increase the supply of affordable homes, particularly in areas where demand is high, will benefit other key workers.

Sustainable Communities

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is intended by his statement that "We will work with partners in the Tees Valley who are tackling the issue of market failure, in the implementation of the Tees Valley Housing Strategy" in the document "Sustainable Communities in the North East".

Tony McNulty: The North East Communities Plan recognises the valuable work currently under way across the region addressing housing and wider community issues. Among the examples selected to give a flavour of this activity is the important work of the stakeholders in the Tees Valley sub-region to address market failure. Furthermore, the problem of market failure has been recognised as a key issue in a draft regional housing strategy, prepared by the North East Housing Forum. It is likely therefore that this will be a priority for the new North East Housing Board to address.
	The Board will address this and other housing issues through the Regional Housing Strategy which it has been tasked to submit to Ministers by July 2003. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be looking to partners across the region, including Tees Valley, to come forward with proposals for the Board to consider.

Sustainable Communities

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in what way the announcements in the document "Sustainable Communities in the North East" support housing renewal in Redcar and Cleveland.

Tony McNulty: "Sustainable Communities in the North East" recognises that 20 per cent. of the housing stock in the region is at risk from low or changing patterns of demand, including Redcar and Cleveland in Teesside. One of the key announcements is the establishment of a Regional Housing Board. The North East Regional Housing Board will address the national priorities of bringing social housing into decent condition and to take action to tackle low demand. This is in line with the national priorities set out in "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future".
	Nationally we are making available £2.8 billion to improve council housing and £500 million to tackle low demand and abandonment over the next three years. As from 2004–05 we will be bringing together the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and local authority Housing Investment Programme into a new single pot for housing capital investment. The Board will advise Ministers on the allocation of this new single pot so that investment is targeted more effectively on regional and local priorities.
	The national plan also identifies tools and actions to tackle low demand more widely, including: building on existing regeneration programmes such as Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and New Deal for Communities; proposals to speed up compulsory purchase of land and property; increasing the minimum payments made to people whose homes are compulsorily purchased under the 'Home Loss' scheme from £1,500 to £2,600; legislating to allow local authorities to license private landlords in low demand areas; and launching a new EU approved 'Gap Funding' housing scheme to pump prime regeneration in deprived areas.

Sustainable Communities

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what extra resources the Department will make available in 2003–04 for housing renewal in (a) Redcar and Cleveland and (b) Teesside.

Tony McNulty: The bulk of Government support for local authorities housing capital spend is provided through the Major Repairs Allowance (MRA), which is ring-fenced for use on council housing, and the housing Annual Capital Guideline (ACG). The housing ACG, which is allocated as part of the Single Capital Pot, provides support for either improvements to existing housing (council or private sector) or provision of new affordable housing.
	Redcar and Cleveland's housing ACG for 2003–04 is £2 million; the total for the five Tees Valley authorities (Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Darlington and Stockton on Tees) for 2003–04 amounts to £10.6 million. These figures are not directly comparable with allocations for 2002–03 as they no longer include an element assumed to be funded from authorities useable capital receipts. After taking account of this change, resources going to Tees Valley are estimated to have increased by 5–10 per cent.
	Redcar and Cleveland no longer receives an MRA as the council housing stock transferred to Coast and County Housing in July 2002. The 2003–04 MRA allocations for other Tees Valley authorities total £21.3 million. These are formula-based allocations that depend on the number and type of dwellings owned by the council.
	It should also be noted that the provisions of the Regulatory Reform Order on Housing Renewal, which came into force on 6 June 2002, gave local authorities much greater discretion on how they can provide assistance for housing renewal.
	Lastly, HIP resources are only a part of the resources made available by Government to tackle issues of deprivation, including housing. Most notably £35.3 million is available to Tees Valley authorities under the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (including £7.8 million for Redcar and Cleveland) and Hartlepool and Middlesbrough both benefit from New Deal for Communities moneys. The latter amounts to £52 million in West Middlesbrough and £54 million in Hartlepool, of which £12.5 million and £10.5 million respectively are earmarked for housing and environment spend.

Tenancies

Bridget Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the impact of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 on local authority and housing association tenancies.

Tony McNulty: We expect all local authorities and Registered Social Landlords (commonly known as housing associations) to take these regulations into account when issuing tenancy agreements to their tenants. I am not aware that the regulations have had any particular impact on these tenancies.

Travellers

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has under the new provisions to move travellers on immediately from unauthorised sites where authorised sites are provided by the local authority.

Tony McNulty: The Government are proposing to introduce new police powers to move on illegal Gypsy and Traveller camps. The details of how this will work are currently being worked up by the Home Office, and no legislative vehicle has yet been identified to take this forward.
	This new power is not intended to replace existing legislation currently in place under sections 61 to 62 and 77 to 79 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which enables local authorities and police forces to move illegal encampments. This will remain alongside the new power.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Ambition Construction Initiative

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what preliminary information is available from conducting the Ambition Construction Initiative pilots;
	(2)  what contracts have been awarded and in what locations, to deliver the Ambition Construction Initiative; to whom they have been awarded; what timescale has been set for delivering the contracts; and what delays there are compared with the original tender specifications.

Nick Brown: Since June 2002, we have launched six Ambition Construction pilots to help unemployed and disadvantaged people gain the right skills to meet the needs of employers in the construction industry.
	The pilots are in their early stages and it is too soon to draw conclusions about their performance. However, initial indications are that there is a strong commitment from employers and training providers to making the programme a success. We are monitoring the pilots closely and are working in partnership with the contractors and employers to ensure that the needs of the construction industry are being met and the job opportunities available to participants are maximised.
	The table identifies the location of the six pilots, the contracts awarded and the period they cover.
	
		
			 Pilot location Host agents Period of contract 
		
		
			 Nottingham City Wide Construction June 2002-June 2005 
			 Greater Merseyside Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council July 2002-July 2005 
			 Greater Manchester Manchester Economic and Regeneration Partnership June 2002-June 2005 
			 Leeds and Bradford Leeds City Council June 2002-June 2005 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire CovWise Ltd. Sept 2002-Aug 2005 
			 Paddington Carillion Construction Training Sept 2002-Sept 2005 
		
	
	The contracting timetable for Ambition Construction sought for delivery of contracts to begin on 24 June 2002. Extended contract negotiations led to delays in the Merseyside, and Coventry and Warwickshire pilots. In Paddington, a delay followed the withdrawal of the initial training provider and a re-tendering of the contract. Despite these delays, all pilots are successfully up and running and are contracted to run for a full three years.

Departmental Offices (Rural Areas)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consultation took place prior to the proposals to close some of the Department's offices in rural areas.

Nick Brown: holding answer 10 March 2003
	Jobcentre Plus is in consultation with the Countryside Agency at a national level about the impact of the new integrated Jobcentre Plus offices on rural areas. Decisions on closing of old offices and opening of new offices as part of the Jobcentre Plus national rollout are made after careful consideration of the rural impact of those decisions and made with reference to the 'rural proofing' checklist developed by the Countryside Agency.

Employers Liability

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when he expects the review announced on 27 November on employers liability to be completed; and when he expects that a report will be published;
	(2)  what the terms of reference were of the review on employers liability.

Nick Brown: holding answer 11 March 2003
	I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I gave on 12 December 2002, Official Report, columns 23–24W.

Employment Statistics

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of people aged 50 and over were not in employment in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000, (e) 2001 and (f) 2002 in (i) Coventry and (ii) the UK.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 10 March 2003
	I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 12 March 2003
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people aged 50 and over who are not in employment. (101189)
	The attached tables give the information requested for the three-month period ending November of each year from 1997 to 2002. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and are subject to sampling variability from year to year. They are not seasonally adjusted.
	
		Table 1: Percentage of people aged 50–59/64(22) who are not in employment; United Kingdom, 1997 to 2002
		
			 September to November Per cent. not seasonally adjusted 
		
		
			 1997 35.3 
			 1998 33.6 
			 1999 33.5 
			 2000 32.9 
			 2001 31.9 
			 2002 31.2 
		
	
	(22) Men aged 50–64 and women aged 50–59.
	Note:
	These Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have been adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey
	
		Table 2: Percentage of people aged 50–59/641 who are not in employment; Coventry local authority district; 1997 to 2002
		
			 September to November Per cent. not seasonally adjusted 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1997 32.4 
			 1998 34.3 
			 1999 40.6 
			 2000 36.9 
			 2001 33.3 
			 2002 48.4 
		
	
	(23) Men aged 50–64 and women aged 50–59.
	Note:
	These Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have not yet been adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey

New Deal

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 660W, on the New Deal, if he will make a statement on the difference of outcomes for those leaving the subsidised employment option of the New Deal for Young People and the New Deal 25 plus.

Nick Brown: We have not conducted a comparative evaluation of outcomes between the New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus. The client groups for the programmes have very different characteristics and the programmes themselves are not identical. People aged between 18 and 24 can join the New Deal for Young People at six months of unemployment. In contrast, individuals are eligible for New Deal 25 plus following a period of 18 months or 18 out of 21 months of unemployment. As New Deal 25 plus participants have faced longer terms of unemployment, and hence greater barriers to work, fewer job outcomes through subsidised employment are likely.
	Up to September 2002 the New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus have helped well over half a million people move from benefit and into work. Both programmes are continuing to help significant numbers of disadvantaged people into jobs. We building on their success and providing extra help for those facing the greatest disadvantages in the labour market.

New Deal

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many businesses were established under the New Deal self-employment model for (a) young people, (b) 25 plus and (c) lone parents in each year since its creation; and how many of those businesses were still trading after (i) one year, (ii) two years, (iii) three years, (iv) four years and (v) five years and above, from the end of the third stage of test trading.

Nick Brown: The information requested is not available. However, we do record the number of people who move into sustained employment of 13 weeks or more following test trading under the New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus. This information is in the tables. Equivalent information is not available for the New Deal for Lone Parents.
	
		New deal for young people
		
			  Left new deal for sustained employment following test trading(24) 
		
		
			 April 1998 to December 2000 1,000 
			 January to December 2001 450 
			 January to September 2002 220 
			 Total 1,680 
		
	
	
		New deal 25 plus(25)
		
			  Left new deal for sustained employment following test trading(24) 
		
		
			 April to December 2001 30 
			 January to December 2002 410 
			 Total 440 
		
	
	(24) Figures include people who moved into sustained employment as employees following test trading.
	(25) New deal 25 plus did not have a self-employed option until it was enhanced in April 2001.
	Note
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source
	Labour Market System and New Deal Evaluation Database

Asbestos

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) expert advisers and (b) scientists consulted by (i) his Department and (ii) the Health and Safety Executive in connection with the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; and if he will list the qualifications and experience in relation to asbestos of each such adviser and scientist.

Nick Brown: The general policy underlying the new duty to manage asbestos was informed by considerable research evidence. Annexe I of the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) sets out a list of all the other external and HSE research reviewed in 2001 on the levels of exposure to asbestos that could be caused by maintenance work.
	The RIA is available in the Library.

Weekly Earnings Disregard

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the weekly earnings disregard for incapacity and invalidity benefit (a) was introduced and (b) has subsequently been amended; at what level it stands in real terms compared with that of the time of introduction; and what plans he has to review the level of the disregard.

Nick Brown: Weekly earnings disregards are not a feature of incapacity benefit (IB). Entitlement is based primarily on a person's national insurance contribution record, and generally no account is taken of any income that a person may have.
	There has, however, always been provision within the rules governing incapacity benefit and its predecessors for people wishing to undertake some work for therapeutic purposes.
	We modernised the rules governing therapeutic work from April 2002, giving people greater freedom to try out work without fear of losing their benefit. For the first time, people claiming IB can work for up to and including £20 a week for an unlimited period. In addition, a person may work for less than 16 hours a week and earn up to and including £67.50 from a week for 26 weeks. This can be extended for a further 26 weeks where a job broker, disability employment advisor, or personal adviser supports the extension.
	The earnings limit is regularly uprated to keep pace with the national minimum wage, and has increased from £48 per week in 1998 to its current limit. We have no plans to change these arrangements at present.

HEALTH

Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what restenosis rate was associated with the use of bare stents in diabetics in the last year for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: No information is held on restenosis levels among patients suffering from diabetes.

Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of how many diabetics with heart disease would benefit from the use of drug eluting stents in percutaneous coronary intervention.

Hazel Blears: The current evaluation by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence of the clinical and cost effectiveness of drug eluting stents will consider, inter alia, the implications of patient co-morbidity. Publication of the evaluation's results is expected during August 2003.

Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide guidance to primary care trusts on the use of drug eluting stents in patients who are at high risk of having restenosis.

Hazel Blears: Guidance to clinicians is currently in preparation by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on the clinical effectiveness of drug eluting stents. Publication of this guidance is scheduled for August 2003. Pending publication, the national health service has standing guidance to take decisions locally on the best available evidence as to whether, and in what circumstances, to fund and deploy any particular intervention.

Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the costs to the Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust are of providing the off-site storage for patient records on the Hampton Lovett Industrial Estate; how many tenders were received for providing this service; and at what level the decision was made to accept the successful tender.

David Lammy: The operating costs of the medical records storage facility at Hampton Lovett are approximately £140,000 per annum. The service itself is operated by staff of the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust in a leased warehouse. In line with normal NHS procedures for property leasing, the process followed was to identify storage of suitable size and location and to have the rent and rates negotiated and ratified by the district valuer. Competitive tendering was used to award contracts for the internal refurbishment of the building.

Cancer

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research the Government is carrying out on the link between acrylamide and (a) bowel, (b) bladder and (c) kidney cancer.

Hazel Blears: Acrylamide has been found to occur in a wide range of home-cooked and processed foods, including chips and crisps. It has not been found in uncooked or boiled foods, and appears to be formed during cooking by methods such as frying and baking.
	Acrylamide has been shown to cause various types of cancer in laboratory animals, although not of the bowel, bladder and kidney. It is considered to have the potential to cause cancer in humans, but a link has not been proven.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) considers that exposure to acrylamide should be kept as low as reasonably practicable and is commissioning research and surveillance that will minimise the amounts occurring in food. Meanwhile the FSA advice remains that on the basis of current evidence people should eat a balanced diet including a variety of fruit and vegetables, and that as part of a balanced diet people should moderate their consumption of fried and fatty foods.

Care Homes

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care home beds there are in Greater London; and how many there were in May 1997.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 March 2003
	The number of places in residential and nursing care homes in London is shown in the table as at 31 March for 1997 and 2001. Data for 2002 are not yet available.
	
		Number of residential and nursing care home places(26) in London(27) at 31 March 1997 and 2001 -- Rounded numbers
		
			  As at 31 March 1997 As at 31 March 2001 
		
		
			 Residential 30,070 29,340 
			 Nursing(28) 15,310 18,080 
			 Total 45,380 47,430 
		
	
	(26) Data includes places in dual registered homes.
	(27) All residential homes in councils with social services responsibilities in inner and outer London and all nursing homes in health authorities within London.
	(28) Nursing home places covers general and mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	Note
	Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Children's Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish his NSF for children's services; what his priorities are for improving children's health services; and how much NHS money has been spent on children's health services in each of the last six years.

Jacqui Smith: The publication date of the full children's national service framework has not been finalised yet. The NSF will cover children's health and social care services. The first module, covering standards for children in hospital, will be published shortly.
	The health service has a particular contribution to make in ensuring that all children have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. The NSF will set out our plans for improving services for children based on the aims in the NHS Plan of developing services around the need of individuals and improving their experience of care.
	The planning and priorities framework issued last year by the Department of Health set out a number of targets to improve services from the national health service for people of all ages. Specific areas for improvement for children included targets to reduce health inequalities, improve access to child and adolescent mental health services, tackle teenage pregnancy and improve the life chances of children in the care of local authorities.
	The total cost of children's hospital services 1 in England for 2000–2001 is estimated to be £2.4 billion 2 . Data for other health services for children is not available.
	1 "Children's hospital services" are defined here as hospital admissions, day cases, and out-patient appointments for 0 to 19-year-olds.
	2 This figure has been calculated by the Department of Health Economics and Operational Research Branch drawing on data from the following sources:
	http://www.doh.gov.uk/hes/—Admissions of 0–19 year olds to NHS hospitals (data available by order).
	http://www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/refcosts2001.htm_spred—National Schedule of Reference Costs—mean costs of Healthcare Resource Groups.
	http://www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/statistics/2000–01/outpatient attendances/y00.htm—Out-patient attendances, England 2000–01.
	"Living in Britain: Results from the General Household Survey", The Stationery Office 2001, p.103—Trends in percentages of persons who reported attending an out-patient or casualty department in a three month reference period: 1972 to 2000. http://www.gad.gov.uk—The Government Actuary's Department Population Projections, England 2000.

Children's Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether it is possible for a local authority to be rated excellent for its child and family social services division without the child and adolescent mental health services element being rated good or better;
	(2)  whether inspections by social service departments of child and family services include consideration of joint working with child and adolescent mental health services.

Jacqui Smith: The Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) assess the child and family social services in each council and categorise this performance by rating whether they are "serving people well" as "no", "some", "most" or "yes". There is no separate, explicit categorisation for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), but it is one of a number of service areas that feed into the overall children's services judgement. As a result, a council could receive the highest rated children's social services judgement ("serving people well", categorised as "yes"), without their CAMHS being considered good.
	Inspections of child and family social services are carried out by SSI, with the results feeding into the overall assessment of performance. The most recent inspection standards, published in September 2002, state that there should be "effective joint working between agencies at the point of service delivery, which puts children's needs before the convenience of organisations".

Flu Vaccines

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether his Department is taking steps to monitor the long-term effects of flu vaccines on the mental health of those inoculated; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what information he has received on the side effects of flu vaccines; when these were notified to GPs; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what research he has evaluated on possible links between flu vaccines and (a) Alzheimer's disease and (b) other brain function impairing conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Influenza is a serious disease that can be fatal, particularly in the elderly, and influenza vaccines have a significant benefit in helping to reduce morbidity and mortality from the disease. As with any vaccine or medicine, influenza vaccines are not without possible side-effects in some recipients. The known side-effects of influenza vaccines are listed in the product information available to general practitioners and other health professionals and available in the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries compendium of data sheets and summaries of product characteristics and the electronic medicines compendium.
	The Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and the Committee of Safety of Medicines keeps the safety of all vaccines under continual review. The MCA is not aware of any evidence to support reported claims that immunisation with influenza vaccines may lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease or other related mental health disorders.
	Some neurological conditions have been rarely reported in association with influenza vaccines and these are listed in the product information. These are neuralgia, convulsions, encephalomyelitis, neuritis and Guillain-Barré syndrome. These rare risks are far outweighed by the benefits of influenza vaccine in protecting against influenza virus infection and its complications.

Foster Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2003, on foster care allowance, why information is not held centrally with reference to his answer to question number 96092.

Jacqui Smith: Data on fostering allowances are not collected centrally. The setting of fostering allowance levels by local authorities is a matter for local decision. The choice protects review is looking at all aspects of the fostering service, and is working closely with stakeholders.

Foster Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children are in foster care with (a) direct local authority foster carers and (b) foster carers from independent fostering agencies.

Jacqui Smith: The latest information available on looked after children in foster care with foster carers provided by the local council responsible for the child and with foster carers arranged through external agencies is shown in the table.
	
		Number of looked after children in foster care in England at 31 March 2001, by type of foster placement
		
			 At 31 March 2001 Number 
		
		
			 All children in foster placements(29) 38,400 
			 Of which:  
			 Placement provided by council responsible for the child 28,100 
			 Placement arranged through external agency 3,700 
			 Child fostered with relative or friend 6,600 
		
	
	(29) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements

Foundation Hospitals

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis the governing boards of foundation hospitals will be constituted; and what role the Commissioners for Public Appointments will play.

John Hutton: Our policy for the constitution of the Boards of Governors for National Health Service foundation trusts is explained in paragraphs 2.19 to 2.24 of 'A Guide to NHS Foundation Trusts'. The election of governors from the membership is set out in paragraphs 2.25 to 2.28. The Commissioners for Public Appointments will not be involved in the process.

General Practitioners

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the regulations concerning the declaration of vacancies for general practitioners.

John Hutton: Under proposals for a new general medical services contract, practices will have the flexibility to introduce new partners or employ the staff they need in order to meet their needs and the needs of their patients. If general practitioners vote to accept the contract, the existing system of statutory vacancies will be replaced with these new arrangements.

Hepatitis B (Overseas Staff)

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) nurses and (b) doctors recruited from overseas in the latest year for which figures are available have hepatitis B.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 11 March 2003
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 4 February 2003, Official Report, column 220W.

Home Treatment

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he collects on the relationship between the distance from home patients are treated, and their recovery rate from acute conditions.

John Hutton: The Department does not collect this data centrally.

Illegal Meat Imports

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources he is committing through the Food Standards Agency to (a) prevent and (b) detect illegally imported meat entering the UK.

Hazel Blears: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is assisting local authorities in the prevention and detection of illegally imported meat through delivery of its 10 point plan to enhance imported food controls. This plan includes provision of training, enhanced liaison and provision of enforcement guidance to authorities. This summer, the FSA is to deliver a specific training programme to all United Kingdom local authorities relating to detection and removal of illegal imports.
	The FSA is also assisting the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise as part of a cross-government action plan on illegal imports.

Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 13 January 2003, Official Report, column 499W, on Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, if he will set out the reasons that were given for not renewing the contract with NHS professionals.

John Hutton: This is a matter for the Trust.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Mental Health Bill will place a legal obligation on health and social services authorities to honour advance statements and advance directives.

Jacqui Smith: It is not proposed that the Mental Health Bill should place a legal obligation on health and social services to honour advance statements and advance directives since the use of compulsory powers under the Bill is based on the concept of treatment being necessary rather than the capacity of the individual to take decisions, whether those decisions are expressed at the time or in an advance statement or directive.
	As part of our consideration of the Mental Health Bill consultation responses we are, however, looking further at how best to ensure that clinical teams take notice of patients' wishes and feelings.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many investigations took place last year into patient deaths in mental health trust centres;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking against mental health trusts which do not accurately report how many (a) suicides and (b) killings took place in their care;
	(3)  how many mental health trust centres staff are suspended regarding patient deaths;
	(4)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) mental health trust chief executives and (b) the Commission for Health Improvement regarding patient deaths in mental health trust centres.

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not collect data from individual mental health trusts on the number of investigations that take place into patient deaths or on staff who are suspended regarding patient deaths. All serious untoward incidents are investigated by the relevant trust and the suspension of staff is a disciplinary issue dealt with at local level. If there is a homicide by a person in the care of a mental health trust, it is obligatory to hold an independent inquiry under HSG(94)27.
	The Department is not aware of any problem in the reporting of serious untoward incidents by mental health trusts. All trusts are required to report serious incidents to strategic health authorities and to the relevant Directorate of Health and Social Care/Regional Director of Public Health and the Department of Health. In such cases, the Department works closely with all relevant organisations to ensure that advice and support is provided to enable the service to learn lessons, which can prevent further incidents occurring. The development of the new Commission for Health Audit and Inspection, and the integration within it of the Mental Health Act Commission, will ensure an even stronger focus on mental health issues for the new organisation.
	The Department funds the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness to ensure that everyone involved with mental health services learns and implements lessons from the factors associated with serious incidents.
	The Government have also established the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) to improve the safety of NHS patient care by introducing a national reporting and learning system for adverse events. Guidance on the introduction of new arrangements will be issued when the system is rolled out, from summer 2003. In future, all serious service failures or dysfunction will be subject to a full root cause analysis to establish what went wrong, to learn lessons and to take appropriate action. Reports of all incidents, including those subject to a root cause analysis, will be made to the NPSA. This overview will enable the NPSA to identify trends and patterns of avoidable adverse events, learn lessons that can be fed back to the service and produce solutions to prevent further harm occurring.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether the NHS response to the mental health needs of ex-servicemen is in accordance with (a) international best practice and (b) the international evidence.

Jacqui Smith: The spectrum of mental health disorders in the United Kingdom armed forces is broadly the same as in the matched civilian community. The national health service already has a commitment to an evidence-based approach in the context of individual assessment of needs.
	Health authorities have a responsibility to provide services to meet the mental health needs of all those who are eligible. Decisions about treatment and care are taken on the basis of an individualised assessment of needs, the patient's wishes, the evidence base for effective treatment and available resources. The general practitioner remains the first port of call for anyone suffering from mental health problems. The Department published guidance to help GPs know more about the most effective treatments in the mental health national service framework and in specific guidance on psychological therapies and counselling. These are available on our website at www.doh.qov.uk/mentalhealth.
	There is also current guidance relevant to priority treatment for war pensioners (HSG (97)31) which says:
	that the referral should make specific reference to the fact that the patient is a war pensioner and requires treatment for the condition(s) for which he was awarded a pension; and
	that war pensioners can use the NHS complaints system to resolve any alleged breakdowns in the arrangements for priority treatment (leading, ultimately, to the Ombudsman).

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the British armed forces who served in the last Gulf war were subsequently diagnosed with mental health problems.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 March 2003
	Primary health care records for the 53,000 or so veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf Conflict are held by their doctors and are not accessible centrally for reasons of patient confidentiality.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to ensure the NHS can cope with increase in demand for specialist mental health services as a result of forthcoming military action in the Gulf.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 March 2003
	Contingency planning between the Department of Health, Ministry of Defence and the national health service is ongoing. The Ministry of Defence has one specialist hospital and about 15 community units providing mental health services for military personnel and hence has the capacity to meet the needs of service personnel who develop mental illness. We will use the operational flexibility we have in the system to make sure that NHS mental health services can also be made available.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set up a system of specialist mental health services for returning service men and women along the lines of that in the US.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 March 2003
	Returning service men and women will still be in-service and therefore the responsibility of the Defence Medical Services. The Ministry of Defence has one specialised hospital and around 15 community units providing mental health services for military personnel. The operational flexibility we have in the system can also be used to ensure that national health service mental health services are made available.

Mental Health

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to ensure appropriate arrangements are made to handle the transition between (a) children and adolescent and adult mental health services and (b) adult and older people mental health services.

Jacqui Smith: Ensuring a smooth transition for people as they move from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adult services, and from adult to older people's services has been a priority in the modernisation of mental health services.
	Progress has been monitored in the last two years' annual local implementation plan process. The self-report from the 162 local implementation teams nationally has shown a steady increase in those who rated themselves as having adequate and effective transition protocols.
	The transition from CAMHS to adult services is currently being considered by the CAMHS module of the children's national service framework (NSF) who will make recommendations in their report.
	A key element of the NSF for older people is the need for all localities to have plans for the assessment and integration of mental health services. The implementation of the single assessment process and the care programme approach guidance will ensure that care planning in the transition between the services is smooth.

MumpsVac

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the supply of the MumpsVac vaccine in England and Wales.

Hazel Blears: The Department of Health has never provided single mumps vaccine and believes that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best way to protect children against three serious and potentially fatal diseases.
	Although a single mumps vaccine is licensed in the UK, the pharmaceutical company that holds the product licence does not manufacture or market the vaccine for use in this country. Single mumps vaccines that are being prescribed and administered are imported and therefore unlicensed.

Muscular Dystrophy

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number of (a) children and (b) young adults with muscular dystrophy in each of the last 10 years.

Jacqui Smith: The data show counts of in-patient admissions to national health service hospitals in England since 1995 where muscular dystrophy was diagnosed during the first episode of care. We do not have the equivalent figures prior to 1995–96. This is due to changes in coding, which took place in 1995.
	
		All diagnoses, first episode of spell G71.0 muscular dystrophy, finished consultant episodes: Count of in-year admissions—NHS hospitals England 1995–96 to 2001–02
		
			  0–17 18–24 25–34 35 and over Not known Total 
		
		
			 1995–96 477 144 175 623 2 1,421 
			 1996–97 552 125 146 730 0 1,553 
			 1997–98 673 217 169 751 2 1,812 
			 1998–99 677 220 187 837 0 1,921 
			 1999–2000 619 176 182 783 1 1,761 
			 2000–01 652 168 186 760 0 1,766 
			 2001–02 635 191 197 751 3 1,777 
		
	
	Note
	This table is derived from ungrossed HES data.

Muscular Dystrophy

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on Government policy with respect to muscular dystrophy.

Jacqui Smith: Patients with muscular dystrophy (MD) can take advantage of a range of primary, secondary and tertiary services available. Children with MD form a considerable part of the caseload for children's community nursing services and many receive services from children's hospices. The children's national service framework will develop new national standards across the National Health Service and social services for children, including those with MD. The new standards will help to ensure better access and smoother progression in the provision of services for children, from initial contact with the NHS, via a general practitioner's surgery or NHS hospital, through to social services support.
	Clinical and laboratory services for the diagnosis of MD are available through existing networks of regional genetics centres. In January 2002, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, announced the spending of £11 million to boost capacity in NHS genetics services. This should help patients with muscular dystrophy and other genetic diseases.
	There is no specific treatment for any of the forms of MD. Physical therapy and corrective orthopaedic surgery may be needed to improve the quality of life in some cases.

NHS Access

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the consistency of access to (a) rheumatology services, (b) hydrotherapy services and (c) orthopaedic services in the NHS in different parts of England.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 7 March 2003
	Arthritis and rheumatism together account for one quarter of visits to general practitioners. A general practitioner will decide if to refer a patient to a specialist team of rheumatologists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists. They will provide the most effective care and treatment for arthritic patients especially those with rheumatoid arthritis.
	Hydrotherapy is one form of treatment that a physiotherapist might choose for a patient's condition and access is through this route. However, hydrotherapy pools do not exist in all areas, so access could be limited for this reason. Referral to physiotherapy is usually through the GP, consultant or, in some cases, through direct referral from the patient.
	Access to orthopaedic services for elective care is through referral to an orthopaedic consultant by the patient's general practitioner. The Modernisation Agency is running two programmes, which aim to improve patient access to orthopaedic care. The "Action on Orthopaedics" programme has a number of pilot sites across the country and is gathering information on best practice with the objective of showing the improvements in patients' access that can be achieved through an integrated approach within health communities. The orthopaedic services collaborative is a quality improvement initiative and has the participation of nearly two thirds of the 177 orthopaedic services departments in England examining potential changes that might be made in their processes and systems to bring about optimal outcomes and improved patient care.
	Through improvements in general hospital care and especially through the new single assessment process, older people's health care needs will be properly targeted, ensuring that the services that are provided are most appropriate to their needs, including people with arthritis.

NHS Beds

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of beds listed in the NHS that are trolleys or couches.

John Hutton: No estimate has been made as trolleys and couches are not included in the headline bed figures.

NHS Database

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS national database covers patients in Scotland.

David Lammy: The national health service strategic tracing service and the NHS central register in Southport covers NHS patients in England and Wales. The Scottish NHS has a separate central register for NHS patients in Scotland. The two registers co-operate fully to ensure that patients moving between the countries are not lost from sight and that users see a seamless service.

NHS Staff

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors in training, (b) nurses in training, (c) medical students and (d) nursing students there were in (i) each health authority area in the North East in 1996 and (ii) in each PCT area in the North East at the most recent date for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 4 March 2003
	The available information on the number of doctors and nurses in training, and on the number of nursing students have been placed in the Library.
	The information on the number of medical school students within each health authority area is not collected centrally. However, Newcastle University's intake for 1996, was 161. For the autumn term 2002, Newcastle University's intake of medical students was 344.

Northwich Park Hospital

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much direct funding from the Strategic or Regional Health Authority Northwich Park Hospital received in each of the last five years; and for what purpose.

John Hutton: For the last five years, the Department has allocated revenue allocations to health authorities. Northwick Park Hospital is part of the North West London Hospitals National Health Service Trust. The Trust is located within Brent Primary Care Trust, previously part of Brent and Harrow Health Authority. Revenue allocations to Brent and Harrow HA over the last five years are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Year Allocation(£) 
		
		
			 1998–99 239,173,000 
			 1999–2000 310,879,000 
			 2000–01 342,135,000 
			 2001–02 371,479,000 
			 2002–03 432,599,000 
		
	
	The figures for 1999–2000 onwards are not comparable with those for 1998–99, which cover hospital and community health services (HCHS) only. 1999–2000 was the first year of unified allocations, which cover HCHS, prescribing and discretionary general medical services.
	The above figures represent initial revenue allocations. Any further in-year allocations will also have been made to health authorities.

Patient Choice

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many choices of alternative hospital patients in West Yorkshire needing eye operations will have.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 889W.

Patients' Forums

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients' forums will be set up before community health councils are abolished on 1 September 2003.

David Lammy: Patients' forums will not be set up before community health councils are abolished. The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health is responsible for recruiting members and putting in place the support and infrastructure arrangements for patients' forums. This process will be well under way by 1 September 2003, and the Commission will be working towards the achievement of full coverage of forums by the end of the year.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set up a specialist centre of excellence within the NHS for dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 March 2003
	There are no current plans to set up a specialist centre of excellence within the national health service for dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. Health authorities have a responsibility to provide services to meet the mental health needs of all those who are eligible. Decisions about treatment and care are taken on the basis of an individualised assessment of needs, the patients wishes, the evidence base for effective treatment and available resources.
	The general practitioner remains the first port of call for anyone suffering from mental health problems. The Department published guidance to help GPs know more about the most effective treatments in the mental health national service framework and in specific guidance on psychological therapies and counselling. These are available on our website at www.doh.qov.uk/mentalhealth.

Red Button Alert Devices

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have received a red button alert device, broken down by region.

Jacqui Smith: Information on the numbers of people receiving a red button alert device is not collected centrally.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase the access of patients to (a) Cox-2, (b) Anti TNFs and (c) metal on metal hip resurfacing; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 7 March 2003
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) was asked to appraise the use of infliximab (Remicade) and etanercept (Enbrel) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. NICE issued its guidance on 22 March 2002, which recommended the use of etanercept for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis and etanercept and infliximab for adult rheumatoid arthritis.
	NICE issued guidance on 26 July 2001 on the use of four drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis to the national health service in England and Wales. The four drugs, celecoxib, etodolac, rofecoxib and meloxicam, are Cox II selective inhibitors and are a type of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for short-term treatment of acute inflammation in joints caused by arthritis. They recommended they be considered in preference to standard treatments only when there is a high risk of patients suffering from gastrointestinal problems as a side effect of treatment.
	NICE also issued guidance on 19 June 2002 recommending the selective use of a technique called metal on metal hip resurfacing, used to treat hip disease. They recommended that metal on metal hip resurfacing be considered as an option for people with advanced hip disease who would otherwise receive conventional primary total hip replacements and are likely to live longer than the device is likely to last. It also recommended that information be collected on the long-term effectiveness of the technique.
	On 5 December 2001, the Government announced that they would meet their commitment to ensure that patients receive drugs and treatments recommended by NICE on the NHS if deemed appropriate by their clinicians. Directions were issued on 11 December 2001 obliging health authorities and primary care trusts to provide appropriate funding for recommended treatments.

Stroke Care

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms will be put in place to monitor the April 2003 milestone contained in Standard Five of the National Health Service Framework for Older People, for every hospital which cares for older people with strokes to have established clinical audit systems to ensure delivery of the Royal College of Physicians clinical guidelines for stroke care.

Jacqui Smith: "Improvement, Expansion and Reform", the priorities and planning framework for 2003–06, has the April 2004 milestone for specialised stroke services in all general hospitals caring for people with stroke as a key delivery target. The level of monitoring is currently being determined.
	Other aspects of Standard Five will be monitored through existing information collections (including the Sentinel Stroke Audit), discussions with the field and through a network of older people national health service and social care leads.

Tuberculosis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist tuberculosis nurses were employed in (a) the NHS and (b) each health authority in London last year.

Hazel Blears: The number of specialist tuberculosis nurses employed in the national health service is not held centrally.
	London is broken down by five sectors. The number of TB nurses in each sector is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Sector Number of nurses 
		
		
			 North West 22 
			 North Central 13.5 
			 North East 19 
			 South East 12 
			 South West 6

LORD CHANCELLOR

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Lord Chancellor intends to reply to the letter to him dated 31 January from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to unadopted roads.

Yvette Cooper: My noble Friend the Lord Chancellor replied on 6 March.

Industrial Action

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many working days were lost owing to industrial action by staff in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies in 2002.

Rosie Winterton: None.

Ministerial Transport

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what her estimate is of the cost (a) ministerial cars and drivers and (b) taxis for her Department in 2002.

Rosie Winterton: Part (a) of this question will be addressed in a letter from Mr. Nick Matheson, Chief Executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency to the hon. Member for Buckingham. As for part (b), expenditure of £40,407 was incurred against the departmental taxi service contract between 1 April 2002 and 28 February 2003. This figure excludes any amounts spent on taxi hire outside of the departmental contract and reclaimed by officials as travel and subsistence expenditure. That information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Church Repairs

Anne McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners pursuant to his oral statement of 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 20, on Church Repairs and VAT, when he expects the review of the sixth VAT directive to be completed.

Stuart Bell: I understand that work is ongoing between Commission officials and member states to finalise the details of the revision to the Sixth Directive. The aim is to get sufficient agreement in the Council for the 'Recast' Directive to be formally adopted before the next enlargement of the EU, scheduled for May-June 2004.
	The 'recasting of the Sixth VAT Directive' is a separate exercise to other elements of the Sixth Directive being revised, such as the reduced rates review, scheduled to take place later this year, or the Labour Intensive Services Experiment.

Clergy Pensions

Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if he will make a statement on the pension rights of clergy.

Stuart Bell: Clergy in office receive a stipend and are housed. When they retire they make their own housing provision, but they receive a pension from the State as well as that provided by the Church's clergy pension scheme. The basis for determining the benefits provided by the latter—a lump sum at retirement plus a pension—was designed to take into account all of these factors. The full service pension (payable after 37 years of service) has since April 2002 been £10,693 per annum and will increase by 3 per cent. from April 2003. The retirement lump sum is £32,079.
	Following a thorough consultation with interested parties in the Church, culminating in a General Synod debate last November, it was decided to retain the defined benefit scheme. The Church has resisted the increasingly common alternative of moving to money purchase schemes, thereby shifting risk onto the employee, in a demonstration of its commitment to adequate provision for the clergy in their retirement.